


The Knockout

by daisherz365



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: AU, BBC Sherlock - Freeform, F/M, Sherlolly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2017-11-20 03:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisherz365/pseuds/daisherz365
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU An order from the head of the Holmes family causes for Sherlock to stop his dangerous life inside the boxing ring. He has thought of refusing but is brought back to reality at the mention of the young woman who makes sure he's back to prestine condition each time. Sherlolly</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

It was never easy to watch a fight between two people. If it was just a screaming match that was easier, but this had never been that. Two men surrounded by the circumference of people shouting for both to be the victor. Only one could truly win. That's the way this "sport" worked.

She always watched the matches. It was not because she was bored or that she had even had to. It was because it fascinated her how each mark turned out after it was all said and done. She was the one who fixed it for one of them each time. At least it had been the same person.

It hadn't always been this way, however. Molly Hooper found herself remembering that more today than ever. Tonight was a special night. A night that was not to be forgotten. It was the final night where she would be doing this. Cleaning up after he won once again. He always managed to do that. She had called him Mister Holmes, though she knew his name. Everyone knew his name. She just happened to work for his family and she hadn't deemed it appropriate to call him by his first name.

Courteousy was one of the things her father had taught her when he was still among the living. It had been planted in her head at a young age. She was almost legally an adult. The following month she would be. It was something to be excited about to most. However, Molly was just grateful to be able to do something she's been struggling to do for a while now.

Her family isn't close to be among the riches. It would have helped a bit if she was but she never spoke ill of her lack thereof wealth. If anything it made her want to work harder to do what she wished with her life. There had always been a hope from her mother before she left that Molly would make a name for herself in something glamorous. She told her on several times that she "would do".

It left the young girl feeling as if she shouldn't try that route. She would be doomed to failure. Instead she was attempting to enter into a study she held promise in. She wasn't all that talkative anymore. She mostly stayed quiet these days but it was good that it wasn't required for her to speak to many when it came to her job now and what she wanted to do. Pathology was focused on the dead. It was strange that she working with the living now.

It had been a particularly horrible day when she was offered this job. Two years and three days ago exactly...

_Having just left the hospital where her father was being taken care of and getting both bad news and having an unwanted conversation with her mother about her life choices thus far Molly wasn't really in the mood to do anything besides soak in the tub and have a nice cry within the comforts of her bedroom. The doctors had given Molly's father a week and a half at the most._

_She hated that she couldn't just take news as it came no matter how bad it may be. She just wasn't one of those strong people who could do this on her own. That's what life had begun to feel like for her. She was alone and always had been since the day she first begun to comprehend how life worked._

_Molly entered her small flat that she had been moved into upon her father's last stint in the hospital and dropped her things by the door. She slowly found her way to the tattered sofa that a neighbor had given her a few months ago and flopped onto. There was a stench surrounding this area but Molly had long since used spray deodorizers that were to help block these odors. Sometimes they helped, other times not so much. Today was one of those times where it didn't._

_There was a quilt covering most of the furniture and Molly sighed into it as she shut her eyes. This was indeed a bad day but she didn't wish to move from her spot. This would be her bed for a little while, it was nowhere near as comfortable as the small cot in the small room that was used as her living quarters but it would do._

_It couldn't have been more than an hour when Molly found herself jumping awake at the sound of a couple hard raps against the door. She look at the door warily as her eyes fluttered open. She didn't move though her body gave many warning signs that she probably should. That would be best._

_A few more moments where no sound was made then a couple more knocks were heard - once, twice, three times. Molly rolled clumsily off the piece of furniture and straightened herself up before unlatching the locks and cracking the door slightly. She peered through the small crack of visibility and quickly opened it fully upon seeing a man she had never seen before. He was regal in dress and appearance. Compared to him she felt very much underdressed. It was expected of course. "Hello, sir." She spoke quietly._

_"You are Miss Molly Hooper, correct?" It was clear that this man was here for business, it was definite in his tone._

_Molly nodded and confirmed this to be true in a firm yes. "Would you like to come in, sir?"_

_The man nodded before stepping quietly into her flat. As Molly closed the door and locked the bottom lock she noticed the way he looked about her home. It had an underlining of distaste. It made her feel even more inferior than she had been at first upon first appearance._

_"Tea?" She asked as she gestured for him to sit at the wooden table that was tucked in a corner near her kitchenette. There were two chairs stationed right across from each other. He chose the one that had been more used. "Yes, thank you."_

_Molly busied herself with making the tea. Utensils clattered as she assembled everything on a small tray that belonged to her father. Molly always served tea on this platter for him and he asked just yesterday that she take any of the dishes that she needed from the house. He had been made aware by her brother the new situation with Molly being moved out. Her brother himself was living with his bride to be in a house in the nicer side of town._

_Molly never really minded that she wasn't as well liked or successful as her brother but at times she did wonder why that was. She was only now about to begin a new chapter of her life. Having just graduated high school a few weeks ago there was a lot of speculation as to what was next for her._

_She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she began finishing the preparations of the tea. There was someone she was to talk with now that needed her full attention, if that wasn't already obvious._

_Molly carefully balanced the tray of teacups as she walked the couple of steps towards the table. She placed each cup down on each own saucer before turning the small boat that had milk in it and the tiny dish that held the sugar cubes. Spoons were next to each cup. Once it was settled in place, Molly pulled the chair that was vacant back eliciting a small screech as the chair was forced out of its usual position._

_She winced as she took her seat and folded her hands into her lap as she glanced at the man in front of her. He still intimated her even when he was doing something normal for anyone in the vicinity of London; having tea. He took a sip of the tea before reaching for a few sugar cubes and mixing the brew in his cup. He tested it again and a faint smile was briefly on his face before noticed Molly staring at him. He quickly went back to business mode speaking hurriedly. "I am here on behalf of the Holmes family. You are aware of whom they are, yes?"_

_"Of course." They were a widely known aristocrat family that were one of the wealthiest groups of people also. "What do they want with me? How did they find me exactly?" These were both good questions, Molly rationalized as she waited for his response. She wrapped her fingers around her small cup and took a sip of it as he spoke._

_"They wish to offer you a small job that they saw would be both good for your skill set as well as it being something that will ease their minds concerning the youngest of the children."_

_"Sherlock Holmes, you mean? What do they require me to do?"_

_"Yes, the younger Mister Holmes has been getting more reckless with his recreational sport of choice and needs a bit of help with cleaning up. They wish for you to tend to his wounds after he finishes his bouts. Also there has been a sum of money they are willing to supply you each month to insure you are able to get into your pathology problem at King's College within a year or two. If you accept, that is of course." He took a small break to take a few more gulps of tea._

_"Why would they help with that? They don't know me."_

_"The Holmes are aware of the fact that their son won't allow anyone to do things for him when they were sent from the official standpoint of being appointed from a higher level. In other words he likes to have people around him that are lesser to his intellect but also a challenge. We researched you and you do have a history with medical situations. Plus you also fit with Sherlock's criteria. Helping you is merely their thanks for keeping their son from death."_

_Molly was silent for the few moments as she thought about this proposition. It would be good but she wasn't stupid, this could be difficult. She wasn't one who could just accept something without knowing everything._

_"Have you approached other's to do this task before?"_

_"Yes, however none could really do their task well. If I remember correctly the last one almost gave him a little too much morphine when he had been a bit of a state that require a bit of immediate operations. Then there was the covert agent who was trying to pull the wools over our eyes. Sherlock solved that bit quickly. You'll do, however."_

_Molly tried not to show that hearing that phrase once again nearly caused her to back down from this. The opportunity was good. She would be doing something in the medical field and would be getting paid to do it. There wasn't much harm, yet._

_"Okay. I'll try my best to help."_

_The man just smiled before thanking Molly for the tea and making his leave. Not before telling her that another surprise would be on its way in a couple of days to help swerve her into the right circle when it came to the job._

His name was Michael, she found out later when he approached her on her second time working with Sherlock Holmes. He seemed more casual then and just a few nights ago when he stopped her on her way out to tell her the unfortunate news that she would no longer be needed. The Holmes' were grateful for all of her service but Sherlock would be exiting the gritty world of boxing for good. Tonight was the last time she would ever probably see him let alone touch him anyway.

Molly smiled from behind a small opening near the locker rooms where all the athletes came to prepare themselves for their brawls. Molly usually didn't watch for more than a few seconds but tonight was a special occasion. She was willing to watch the most of it before retiring back to her station in the more isolated room where she took care of him.

A few time she nearly swore that his eyes had flickered over to the small space where she always stood watching the match. She didn't really believe that entirely however it was a nice thought. She was sure he had been informed of her departure come this night. She wouldn't ask if he had though, she didn't really speak to him apart from asking for him to do things to help her better access to his problem areas that she needed to treat. That was fine.

The match was ending soon, she noticed by the way each of the two men begun to falter a bit in their movements. Both of their body were going to give way soon. It was inevitable, really. The question was: who’s would first? That was when it would really end.

Molly didn't stay long enough to see that outcome as she needed to get back to her station. She had to prepare herself again for Sherlock's treatment. It would not be long now.

...

The roar of the crowd soon could be heard from the room where Molly stood next to a bar stool which soon would have an occupant with bruises and blood covering his face. She took a few breaths before hearing the sound of hurried footsteps and loud voices - some ecstatic while others were more stern and annoyed. She turned in time to see Sherlock walking in with Michael near his side and another man whom Molly had been introduced as Sherlock's older brother - Mycroft Holmes. He never really said anything to Molly ever but she had read his body language easy enough to know that he didn't see why she had lasted as long as she had in this position. There was also an underlying of grateful coming off of him that Sherlock was being cared for without any fuss.

He was speaking to Sherlock as he came and sat down on the stool. He tossed the silk robe that was hanging on his form like a cloak, first slipping the hood off before continuing with dropping it to the side. He glanced at her for a moment before speaking to his brother. Mycroft had asked why he needed to overdo it once again in something as mundane as a fist fight.

It was more of a brawl, Molly wished to say but kept quiet as she began to walk around the younger sibling to inspect all of his wound before beginning to treat him. The head wound would need to be dressed first and she used both gauze and alcohol wipes to clean the blood from the side of his head before spraying a little disinfectant on the cut. She told him it might hurt a bit but he didn't say anything instead continuing to look annoyed at his brother as he continued to pester him about things that Sherlock didn't seem to be bothered by at the moment. He did flinch slightly.

Michael intervened soon, only saying that he would have Sherlock home safely within another hour. Mycroft huffed before slowly backing down from another one-sided heated battle with his irresponsible younger brother. Michael soon followed Mycroft out after giving Molly a not so discreet and brief smile of assurance before leaving the duo alone.

...

Sherlock's head was hurting a bit from the successful set of blows that had been landed on his head. However that was nothing compared to the headache he felt he would have later once he finished having another important meeting with his family once he had made it back to home. He didn't want to have to think about it. He didn't have to now however.

He had a little distraction in the form of the petite girl that had been with him for a little over two years now. He could tell you the exact date that she started giving him a bit of comfort after leaving the circle that was used as a stage for the bouts time and time again. This wasn't really necessary. What more caught his eye was the way she seemed to be a bit more careful about treating him tonight. It didn't bother him in the slightest. He never minded her. She never spoke unless she needed him to do something.

He had been told early on in the week during the same discussion when he was "requested" to end his silly time fighting. None of what had been slowly pestering in the back of his mind really bothered him much until he was made to realize that this part of his life had to end, and so some things were changing. He would no longer have this time with her. She would be leaving too.

This irritated him more than he wished to admit. He didn't need people. That's what he had come to tell himself anyway.

He waited until she spoke a simple line that he always heard before she would turn her attention to cleaning up the mess that had come with fixing him. "There. All done." He didn't move immediately as he usually would. He stayed put, opting to watch her do the last few things she needed before taking the few steps she needed to grab her things so she could leave.

However he didn't want her to go. Not yet anyway. He surprised her by reaching over and grabbing her by the wrist and gently pulling her back over to him. "Miss Hooper." He cleared his throat after saying it.

She looked up at him through wide eyes and faltered for a moment before speaking quietly as usual. He didn't think she ever raised her voice ever. "Molly...my name is Molly. Miss Hooper is my mum. Do you need my help anything?"

"I suppose so, Molly." It felt very weird speaking her first name. Whenever he spoke of her the few times he had with his parents it had only been by calling her Miss Hooper as he had just done. He had known her first name though. He too had done a little research on her after the first time she cared for him.

"Yes?" She strayed her eyes away from him but didn't seem to be afraid of him. That was a good thing, he concluded. Many people found him a bit on the scary side. He wasn't entirely sure why.

"This was your last day. You plan to go to King's soon, correct?"

"Yes. Why are you asking?"

"I wish to ask something of you. I noticed you didn't ask how I knew that. Also that you aren't entirely bothered by my companionship. You actually enjoy it for some reason." His face twisted in confusion as he dropped her wrist which he just realized was still within his grasp.

"How would you know that?" She took a small step back and Sherlock stood immediately towering over her. She was much shorter than he was.

"The first few moments we were in the same vicinity your eyes dilated much like now and you were flushed for a moment. You're good at hiding things well. You took tentative steps around me as a way to see what you needed to do but sometimes you would linger a little longer. There are other signs too but they don't exactly matter. You do fancy me."

Molly just stood there not exactly sure if she should respond or not. "Would you consider doing this more often? I am aware you'll be entering a pathology program but you do already have a skill set that has been beneficial to me. It wouldn't be so bad if you stayed would it?"

Molly nearly choked as she spoke a few moments later. "Why?"

That had taken Sherlock by surprise. He didn't expect her to question him. Not that he expected anything from her. She was already so strange to him. "Pardon?"

"Why do you need me to do it? There are more capable people who can do a much better job than me."

"I don't want other people. I am comfortable with you. I want you."

Molly just stared at him for a moment. "You said stay, what did you mean?"

"I might need you at any moment of the day. It'd be easier if you lived closer to me. With me actually."

"You barely know me and you're asking me without your family's knowledge to come live at the mansion. You're insane." Molly said before she could stop herself. She covered her mouth as she muttered several apologizing. She didn't know what had come over her. This was all too much.

Sherlock just grinned at her before taking a step towards her and speaking lowly to her. His eyes never leaving hers. “It’s been a little over a year since your father's death and you live on your own. Have actually since a little before I met you. That must be hard to manage with all the utility bills and things like that."

"I manage." She breathed.

"Yes, however like I said this is your last day and I imagine you'll be looking for another job to keep up with the payments. You won't have to worry about that if you accept my offer."

Molly bit her bottom lip as she thought about it carefully. He was right but how much help did he really need now that he wasn't going to do this anymore. More so, she imagined remember a few of the stories Michael had told her over these past couple months.

"Okay."

"Okay? Could you clarify what you mean exactly?" He stepped a little closer, he could practically feel her breathing against his bare skin. He could touch her, if he really wanted to. He did want to, a part of him did anyway.

"I'll stay with you."

"Thank you." He smiled shortly before noticing that Molly was getting a little red in the face again.

"Is there a problem?" He hadn't thought he had done anything problematic as of yet.

"Could you put on a shirt, please?"

He chuckled at her. This would work out fine.


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Hello everyone. There was a bit more of a request for me to continue this and since I had sort of unconsciously plotted out a whole story after the first chapter, here were are with even more. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think of it, please? I love hearing from all of you. By the way: I went back to the first chapter and edited it mostly with the grammar and spelling things that I noticed I had slipped up on. I had been using my cell phone to write it at the time so it didn’t really surprise me that I made a few mistakes. It should be all fixed up now. Anyway, enjoy! – Day_
> 
> **NOTE: I changed a few things for the sake of storytelling and well this is an AU so isn’t that expected? Hope that’s alright. Continue.**

**PART TWO**

There was a certain type of feel to this new environment. Molly had felt it the very second Sherlock guided her into his family’s manor. Yes, **_manor_** that was a much adequate term for this new space of living she found herself in. She did not believe that she belonged here.

If going by the state of her dress, she was holding onto the truth in her bare trembling hands. Sherlock had been so nonchalant about everything. Just walking about, his hands in his trousers as he showed her the ground floor. They were currently in the library - a space Molly felt she could only dream about. She did put her hand out a few times as they walked about the skyscrapers of shelves. There were so many, she had been scared to touch them though.

Only smiling shortly as he glanced her way as they walked deeper into the recesses of this grand room. It seemed like it never would end. She had noticed the ladders of steps that wove around the main area of literature but stuck near her companion. He, although very cryptic in nature was a safety net for her. She had decided this not even an hour ago when he had ushered her into a really regal looking town car.

Sherlock Holmes would be the only person she could trust in this place she was positive.

They were walking through a door now, Sherlock’s face had grown a bit less morose as he entered. It was as she trailed behind him she discovered why. This would be one of her safe havens. It was a room dedicated to the research of science and medical knowledge.

If she was drooling, she couldn’t bring herself to mind as she walked eagerly along the room. Everything seemed to catch her attention. That was most obvious to Sherlock as he stood near a table that served as a desk. He had to hold back a smile as he observed her - happiness at this room of wonder. He, himself stayed here many days combing through all of the knowledge at hand.

“Is it to your liking, Molly?”

Molly turned as if realizing she wasn’t alone for the first time, opened her mouth to reply only for another voice to not reach out for another person had joined the duo. “Hello, dear. I see you’ve brought a guest with you.”

Molly looked down in unease at the way the woman spoke of her in such distaste. It was in her tone if anything. This wasn’t going to be a walk in a park, this was clear.

Sherlock’s voice was clear and concise as he addressed the other woman. “Hello. Mother. This is Molly and she’s going to be staying with us.”

Molly tried not to make a reaction to the fact that one she was in the same room as one of the most influential women in the Holmes family (and this world) or that Sherlock was telling her with no argument that she was to be living among them. Instead Molly was trying to find a way to breathe properly as she was clearly being overwhelmed by the situation she was now in the middle of. Even if she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. It made her feel nervous and slightly afraid of what was about to happen.

Mummy Holmes spoke again though, and this time it was clear that there was indeed much trouble ahead. “Oh, is that so?”

When in the presence of her own mother Molly would never say anything against her. Here in a room with two who were kin and very alike in appearance and by blood it felt different. There seemed to a bit of a war that she seemed to be recruited on to be a soldier on Sherlock’s side. The next words to leave his mouth were simple enough. “Yes, I’ve already talked to father. He has reserved a room in the west wing for her.”

There was much more underlying in the way they both talked. Each with confidence and an arrogance that seemed to just about roll off their shoulders. It reminded her of the looks her mother would shoot her when she opened her mouth to tell her that she was wrong (she was more than once) but it would just send her into her silence. In the face of this battle, she almost wanted to run away. Sherlock’s suddenly hold on her wrist made it nearly impossible for her to do that.

He was pulling her out of the room and away from his mother. She had said something else, she had heard it even though she had been a bit distracted by thoughts. “Take her down to Mrs. Hudson. I think Molly will be more comfortable there than up here. If looks are anything to go by.”

Molly couldn’t exactly stay quiet once they were out of earshot of the older woman. She had to ask him a question. “Is she always like that? I don’t mean to offend you but she reminds me of someone.”

Sherlock was quick to retort as they began walking side by side, he dropped her wrist and stuffed his hands back into his trousers. “Your mother, you mean. Yes. I suppose she is always like that. If you want the truth she wasn’t always so demeaning to people of lesser value. She used to be a commoner…or whatever they used to call normal people who weren’t wealthy.

There was a brief pause as they turned around a corner and Sherlock gestured for Molly to go ahead of him down a set of stairs – there were about six small steps. Once they were down to the floor. “I wouldn’t like to admit it but she may be right. This area is a bit more like what you’re used to. I used to come down all the time when I was a child.”

Molly had half a mind to wonder why he felt he had to explain any of this to her. She wasn’t really that important. She was merely someone who would be used to help him. He didn’t have to talk to her. He had almost gone out of his way not to do that until a few nights ago when she was supposed to be leaving him and the job, she silently added.

Now she was here in the place where he had grew up and she was expected to stay and help him continue to not die as he found another ‘sport’ to fuel his time with. All the while she was going to be going to school – college for pathology and she would be starting that in a few weeks’ time. It was almost something out of a really odd book. These things just didn’t happen for someone like her.

They were standing in the midst of chaos now, in a kitchen. It wasn’t a lot of space but it seemed as though there was enough for what needed to be done. There was a woman whom was very round and but moved fluidly around the kitchen placing sauces on platters and stirring things in pots. She was aided by two children. One who looked about nine years old and the other in their teens. One boy and one girl. The girl was the eldest and she had a head of brown curls. The boy’s hair was pulled back and away from his face. Very long just like his sister. Their eyes were the same vibrant green.

The woman stopped the moment Sherlock stepped into the fold. Molly hung back a little and stood there watching as the two of the interacted. “Mrs. Hudson,” He called her as she wiped her hand on the dish towel and circled around the island to come greet him. She wrapped her arms around him in a short embrace. If she had been anyone else, Molly was sure it would have come off as unwanted and awkward. Sherlock had circled his arms around the woman and gave her an affectionate peck on the check before stepping back.

“This is Molly Hooper.” He said as he gestured for her to come into the room a bit more. She felt a bit like she was intruding on something but continued on as such until she was standing by him and in front of Mrs. Hudson. The woman beamed as if finally seeing something truly wonderful. “Molly, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

There were a few things that caught her eye in the few seconds that happened during this exchange. First, Sherlock suddenly turned a bit red in the face and coughed as if he was uncomfortable. Then there was the word _finally_ which means he had at least spoken about her with this woman before. She decided to not say anything about it at all, instead she just took the woman’s extended hand and smiled. “You too.”

Sherlock cleared his throat after a moment. “Mother would like her to stay down here…if you have the space. I had a room upstairs for her however, plans changed.” There was something more genuine about the way he spoke to this woman in comparison to the tension that was there when talking to his own mother. This was something Molly had already noticed. You don’t just hug people and speak willing about affairs that would be deemed more personal to just about anyone, do you?

“We always have the space. I can show her to it. I have a feeling you’ll be stuck in a meeting very soon, dear.” Sherlock just frowned at that but nodded all the same before peering down at Molly. Completely turn to her as the older woman went back over to the stove where her daughter (she assumed) was stirring something in the pot. He took a step forward until he was pretty much all up in her personal space and even then he placed his hands on her shoulder, it wasn’t any kind of normal touch. He was trying to give her some sort of reassurance but the way he looked ready to retreat already with just a few fingers overlapping on each side of her made it clear he didn’t do this, ever. She tried not to smile at his discomfort but it was even harder once he began talking to continue his reassurance as if she was afraid.

She wasn’t.

“I trust Mrs. Hudson and her family to make sure you’re safe. You’ll be fine down here.” If she didn’t know any better he was also trying to tell himself that the last bit was true.

She wouldn’t pretend to know anything about how he was or what went through his mind but one thing was clear, he was very wary of her presence. It became more apparent in this place. This new world.

He was doing things he wasn’t accustomed to do in the slightest. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to go out of his way to make her feel like she belonged here. She could learn to navigate it all on her own. She had done a good job of that on her own for a couple years now. Being isolated isn’t all that new to her. She was used to certain things – sure. She wasn’t going to fall apart because one thing didn’t fall the way it should have. She could adapt.

He had left her stand there though before she could get a word in edgewise with a promise to see her at dinner. She wasn’t entirely sure how that would all work out but nodded before turning to the family who had stopped what they were doing and now were looking at her.

“Hi.” She said quietly as they all came round and stood in front of her.

“Welcome to the underground!” said the boy. “I’m Maximus, you can call me Max though. This is my older sister Lilith. We just call her Lily though.”

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you Miss Molly.” Lilith said quietly as she twirled a strand of her hair in her hand.

“You don’t have to call me Miss. Molly is fine. It’s nice to meet all of you. Do you all live down here?” She inquired as Mrs. Hudson whose name was Martha she was informed by the woman herself (she was allowed to call her Martha, if she liked) started to take her away from the kitchen and down the hallway which was narrow by several standards.

“Yes. I was brought in by the Holmes’ when I was finishing up my schooling to look after their youngest – Sherlock. I had a husband but he died a few years ago. It’s just me and the children since then. The Holmes’ are a very kind family under all of this. They just show it in very odd ways. I’ve learned to just accept it. They’ve been very understanding about Lilith and Maximus. I probably would have gone long before if they had a problem with them. I love them so very dearly. I do care for Sherlock as well, you should know. He’s a very special young man.” She smiled as they journeyed to set of doors. She told her that the first two were for the children, and the last on the left was her own. On the left side there were two bathrooms and another bedroom which would belong to her.

“It seems someone has brought your things down here…” Martha’s voice trailed off in suspicion. Molly tried not to think anything of it. She hadn’t had much to begin with. A duffel of clothes, a box of books, and case for her journals and medical things among until small thing. Not too much.

“This is nice.” Molly murmured as she looked about the room. It did remind her a bit of her own home but a bit larger. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a dresser where she had plenty of room for her things, a table with a chair that she could use for a desk. It was all very homey. Very nice, indeed.

There was yelling coming from down the hall. “I should go see what all the fuss is about. Get yourself sorted, I’m sure you’re a bit tired so resting would be fine, I’m sure. There really isn’t much going on until dinner. I’ll be figuring out what we’ll be doing for that very soon.” She gave her another smiled before leaving her alone in her room, shutting the door on her way out.

Molly sighed as she sat on the bed. This was a bit more than she expected actually. She lay back and shut her eyes temporarily forgetting that she should sort her things and just took a deep breath. This was all very enthralling in a very surreal type of way.

Dinner was in a couple hours she suspected. She wondered what that would be like.

 

 


	3. Part Three

It felt late. That was the first thing Molly thought as she came to. If the darkness in the room was in indication, she had slept much longer than she thought she had. She sat up slowly pressing her hand to her head to move strands of her hair away from her face.

Some sort of fabric fell down off of her shoulder as she shifted around to try to spy anything that looked remotely familiar. There wasn’t much that she could see at the moment. She rolled off the bed with a thud and moved cautiously around the room until she came to the switch against the wall near the door.

The lamp that was sitting to her right on the desk illuminated the room when it turned on. That was a weird setup, a light switch turning on a lamp – she usually had to do things manually. There was a clock sitting on the table. It looked like one of those old fashioned ones you saw in the movies. Two pegs on its bottom while the rest of it came up into a spherical and on the top were the little bells that she was sure would make noise if she had set it for a specific time. She hadn’t noticed it before she had went to sleep.

There were a few things among the hard surface of the wooden desk. She paid them little mind as she picked up the clock and read the time. It was a little after 12 PM.

She had really slept! She almost tripped over her bag as she turned to the door to open it. It was as she was doing that did she notice the plate which she almost missed on the corner of the desk. It was covered up by a piece of paper or maybe it was napkin.

Molly reached for it and picked it up. It was a nap but it had something smudged on it with a marker, possibly. She turned it around to see that it had a more curvy penmanship to it. A woman’s handwriting or a young girl’s.

She read the short note slowly, her mind was still a little foggy from just waking up. It was from Lilith and the boy – Maximus. _Sherlock thought you should sleep more, we brought you this little snack just in case you woke up later and was hungry. Bon appetite.  - Max & Lilith_

Molly smiled at how sweet the children were to someone who they had only just met. She read the note once more and realized that maybe Sherlock might have influenced them to let her be. She didn’t like to think that he might have encouraged them to bring her this but it was a nice gesture all the same.

She pulled out the chair and sat down on it so that she wouldn’t have to stand as she consume the round pastry that was covered in powdered sugar. The outside was flaky where the inside oozed out a little form of sauce. It could have been jam or jelly or maybe some sort of syrup. It tasted delicious. It reminded her of the cream puffs her brother would get her to make sometimes.

She planned to thank the two of them for their thoughtfulness later on when they were sure to be up. She wiped her mouth on the napkin before turning back to the room.

It didn’t take long for her to spot the piece that had been wrapped around her when she was still in the bed. It was a yellow and blue striped throw. Someone must have brought it to her when they discovered her still sleeping away. She folded it and put it at the edge of her bed before deciding that she might as well go on and unpack her things into the dresser.

It took her a few minutes to do that. There really wasn’t all that much. She placed her journals on the desk next to the dictionaries that had already been there. She took a look at a few of the books that were stationed against the wall between the lamp and the end of the desk. They were mostly books she remembered she would be needing for her introduction to anatomy course. She decided to not make a big deal that someone had went out of their way to make sure she at least was prepared for one of the three courses she would be starting very soon.

They had the means to do things like that, she reminded herself as she picked up the larger of the books and traveled back over to the bed and plopped down against it. She opened it and began to go through it. It was a good way to pass time seeing as she wouldn’t be going back to sleep any time soon.

She often did this back in her flat. Sometimes she stayed up for entire days when there wasn’t any work for her to do. She just couldn’t get to sleep. Reading was a way of lulling her mind into a state of focus. She enjoyed it until she eventually ended up falling asleep.

 

She was entering the second unit of her text when she noticed there was a bit more light coming from the hallway and then there was noise coming from outside. The children were up, now. When the sound of Martha Hudson’s voice came she knew that maybe she should go out to greet them. She folded the page she was on and moved towards her dresser to change into some clean clothes. She probably should have showered but she hadn’t known where it was down here and didn’t want to disturb and of them from their slumber.

Shortly after dressing she exited the room and made her way through the hallway towards the kitchen where everyone was gathered. It took her a moment to realize that they were about to leave to go somewhere. They looked dressed that way. Lilith’s hair was tied back against her neck and a summer dress adorned her form. Max’s hair was covered by a hat and he had on a pair of cream colored slacks with a light blue button down – the sleeves were rolled up to his elbow as he ate. She was surprised to see the suspenders he had on but smiled at how adorable he looked in his getup.

Her gaze moved over to Martha just as the woman’s eyes spotted her in the doorway. “Hello, dear. We missed you at dinner last night. I was going to wake you but you looked peaceful and Sherlock had come down to get you but then told me to just let you sleep. Come, you can join us if you like.”

Molly slowly circled the island where everyone was standing. “You’re going out?” Molly asked as she accepted the plate that had eggs and sausage on it with a small bowl of cut up fruit.

“Oh yes, Sundays are our family outing day. Before my husband’s passing we used to take a stroll about town and catch a matinee if we could.” She took a sip of her orange juice and Molly noticed that each of them had a different beverage to drink. Lilith had milk, Max had water and their mother had the juice, obviously.

“That’s sweet. Sundays are usually the day I visit my dad. He’s in the hospital.” Molly told them. A silence grew over them after that. It made her wonder if she should have mentioned that at all. They were without a father figure and husband. She still had her dad at the moment. That couldn’t have been a very nice reminder, especially after Martha’s comment about it being the day that they usually did thing with her husband.

She reluctantly went back to eating.

“I’m sure Sherlock wouldn’t mind getting a car for you so that you can go visit him. Family is important to him even if he doesn’t show it to people much. As a boy he was much more exuberant about them. I suppose as he’s grown up he’s been forced to see the world through much different eyes and it’s changed his perspective.”

Molly hesitated for a second before deciding to ask the question that had been running all through her head ever since first being introduced to this family. “I’m a little curious, Martha. How young was Sherlock when you first started here?”

Martha laughed as if knowing what she really was asking. “I was his nanny since he was two. A terrible two as they say. He’s wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the other children I’ve had to deal with. Max was much worse.” She admitted to her.

“Hey!” Max shouted in protest. Molly giggled as she saw the pout forming on his face.

“It’s true.” Lilith nodded as she took a bite out of a strawberry.

“Not you too!” He grumbled as he pushed his hat down onto this face trying to hide his annoyed expression from their view. All of them just stared at him amused.

 

Soon all laughter simmered as a man came rushing down the steps to all of them. “Miss Hooper your presence has been requested in the main office on the second floor.”

Just as quickly as the man appeared he was out of dodge. Being the bearer of unwelcomed news was never received with open arms. “Uh oh.” Max said quietly as he started pacing behind his older sister.

“What?” Molly asked looking at the worry on the young man’s face.

“It’s never good when someone is called in that office. I’ve been there a few times myself unfortunately.” Lilith piped up with a bit of a faraway gaze on her face, she was remembering all of it Molly figured.

“Shush you two. Don’t go scaring Molly. It’s just Mr. & Mrs. Holmes office. It’s actually the mister’s more the missus. I’m not sure which one is sending for you. As someone who has served her for more than a decade I can tell you that you shouldn’t be worried too much. I’m sure it’s just a formal meeting to welcome you and make sure you know certain things that weren’t addressed yesterday before you were knocked out for the count.”

Molly wore a wary expression her face as she finished eating the small cup of pineapple and strawberries. It all sounded very ominous in her opinion. She had already met Mrs. Holmes and she didn’t particularly feel very welcome by her. The way Sherlock had whisked her out of her presence gave her a bit more than enough evidence that she didn’t want to be in the same vicinity as the woman if she didn’t need to.

She had been summoned to go up there now, however. She couldn’t decline the invitation. It was expected of her to go up there.

“Should I talk to Sherlock to see if he could intercede the meeting?” Lilith asked. Molly wasn’t sure which one of them she was talking to more – her or Martha.

“No.” Both women stated at the same time. “This is something I have to do. I can’t just stay here where it’s safe. You all are very nice. I think I need to do this. I’m not afraid of anything, really. I haven’t done anything that could mean I was leaving now. I just arrived at all. Best to make my appearance a good one, don’t you think?”

She downed the rest of her water before nodding. Yes, she had to go up there on her own and meet the two heads of this rather large home. It would be stupid of her to wish that it was the man of the house only, she hadn’t met him.

“Enjoy your outing.” She smiled at them before heading up the few steps that led to the upper level. This would go swimmingly, she hoped.

She took the large staircase up to the second floor slowly. There were a few workers who she hadn’t seen before who had stopped upon her appearance and started to look at her as she ascended the staircase but she tried not to pay them much attention. They were just curious. Everyone was so curious.

She was almost down the hall when she saw him. _Sherlock._

He was just coming out of a doorway and he spotted her and seemed to take a double take at her before she was greeted by the same man who had come down to tell her about her meeting with the head of the family. She let him guide her into the door to her right before Sherlock could open his mouth to say anything to her.

That didn’t make her feel any better but this was required, wasn’t it.

Here goes nothing.


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a bit of an oops when it came to a certain plot point for this story. In the first chapter I mentioned that Molly's father had died and then in the last chapter I said that she was going to visit her dad in the hospital. Clearly he's not dead. Instead of rewriting all of that, I've decided to keep him alive and I'm gonna go fix that little issue in the first chapter okay. Now...everything else should be all good. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Molly stumbled out of the door with a weird haze falling over her thoughts after all of the things that had happened. Sherlock Holmes stood before her with a strange look of conflict on his face. Had he stayed out here the whole time she had been inside talking to certain members of his family? If he had, then why?

There was a huge part of Molly that had been slowly cataloguing the small gestures he did for her since he asked her to come live with him and his family ultimately. She never wanted to forget any of the human things he did when it came to her because she had had been used to seeing the more unhuman part of him for the two years that she had worked to mend him match after match from the damp room of the arenas. Each one slightly different, but it all ended the same.

She would fix him and then go home for a good night’s rest until she had to do it again. It was never guaranteed that she would ever have to deal with him outside all of that. However, this was new. The idea that they were interacting a bit more closely with their living arrangements.

The first day when he gave her a brief tour of the place there was a hidden corner of her heart that was smiling at him for being this man that she looked forward to knowing. He was more than that though. He never asked for anything besides the promise that she wouldn’t mind patching him up again. He hadn’t even asked for that yet. Yet, here was standing, book in hand as he stared at her with this odd look in his eyes.

“Hi.” She greeted him as she turned to walk down the halls. There was much on her mind but she didn’t know if he wanted to know about any of that. It had been come much clear that her place in this grand place was supposed to be anything but the worker she had become to be. With Sherlock Holmes trailing behind her as she made it down the steps and then slowly turning to face him.

Being up there among the most powerful people in this place and probably in town it didn’t feel safe for her to even been speaking with him. There had been a lot said. Not much from her because she was mostly supposed to be there as witness as she was read a list of things she was expected to do and things she was supposed to not to do. More things she was expected not to do.

Sherlock seemed to have reached a decision on whether not he wanted to say something specific as he tucked his hands into his trousers. “Martha told me you would like to go visit your father at the hospital.”

“Oh yes. Sundays are usually my days when I do that. I mean if that’s okay. Do you need me here, or..?”

A short smile surfaced on his lips as he shook his head. His curls leaping up and down as he moved. “No, I’ll go with you if you want. It’s very dull around here. Besides I don’t have any plans. I’ll go get the keys and we can go.” He nodded as if he was just deciding this is what he wanted to in that moment.

“Okay. Wait…you drive?” She gave him a surprised look, her eyes wide and her face glowed a bit in anticipation for her answer.

“Of course. Unless it’s for family matters I take my own car. It was a gift. Wait for me outside. I’ll be right back.” He left her there at the staircase as he went around the stairs and down one of the hallways that they hadn’t been down to. Molly stood there for a second before walking towards the door and opening it. It was a bit windy out but not too cold as Molly was dressed comfortably enough that she could manage. She would be indoors soon enough.

She took the steps a couple at time and looked back up at the door, waiting for her driver to come down. She tried not to laugh at the thought of Sherlock being her chauffer. It was an odd thought though. She hadn’t known minutes before that he even drove or had a car for that matter. She was learning new things about him every minute. She had learned a few that he might not like to know that she knew of during her meeting with three highly involved individuals. She would have time later to dwell on that however.

Sherlock came down the steps with a suit jacket on his shoulders, the clean dress shirt he had on moments ago and a pair of nice slacks. He was an impeccable dressed man, but she stopped thinking that as he gestured for her to walk with him around the side of the house to a car park where there were four different vehicles parked there. He went towards the second one on the left.

Molly didn’t know much about cars but she knew this one was adequately in the taste of its driver. It looked like one she had seen a guy from her high school drive before but this one was a bit more as she saw once Sherlock opened the door for her and assisted her in getting in. It was higher off the ground than any cab or town car she had ever been in.

Interior was smooth and neutral in color but as Sherlock joined her in the driver’s seat she could see how accustomed to it he was. He moved with fast movements as he clicked his seatbelt in place and turned the key in the ignition to start it up. He looked at her for a moment and spotted her observing him. He smirked at her before putting the clutch in gear and beginning their journey out of the gate closed surroundings of his home. He looked comfortable behind the wheel as he navigated through the throngs of traffic that came as they grew closer to the center of London and even closer to where the hospital resided.

There was only one that treated those terminally ill. There may be a few private facilities but Sherlock didn’t think they her family could afford those. No mistake about the fact that he did feel a bit bad about that. He hadn’t accepted her those few years ago to patch him up because she came from money. He grew annoyed with those who flaunted their own money even if he had been caught doing the same every so often. He wasn’t the same as those people. He hated that his family chose to be those people though.

The most he enjoyed was a nice suit and at times a glass of scotch.

His ways of rebelling against the things his parents had set out for him was the dangerous sports that he partook in. Boxing being his last. They gave him a sense of adventure that only a young boy would understand. If he could maintain it long enough, he didn’t care much to what his family or their friends thought of that. He’d smile (if he felt like) in their faces and pretend not to notice their flaws that they did their damn hardest to cover up.

That’s one of the things that had made him consider having Molly Hooper beside him a bit longer if he could guarantee that. She didn’t hide her flaws. She may stumble over them and try to figure out a way around them but she wasn’t trying to hide much of anything. She also seemed to be very kind and guarded which he wouldn’t say was a bad thing. If you were a menace and guarded then he would have his work cut out for him. Not, that we exactly trying to do much of anything with Molly. He rather enjoyed her company and she was kind to him.

He had a feeling that his friend, John would like her very much.

As they got out of his car which was a bit of a military styled Jeep, he locked it and followed her inside. He rarely frequented hospitals. Only ever had to do that if his injury was life threatening and most times than not he had someone who would prevent that from ever happening. Molly had done that twice. She was a brilliant at her job even if it wasn’t going to be her occupation. He knew that she wanted to be a pathologist. If her drive to make sure that her patient didn’t die said much about her now, then later when she ultimately graduated and was offered hundreds of jobs elsewhere he knew that she would be brilliant there as well.

He knew the worth of a person just by glancing and observing them. If he knew anything about Molly Hooper, she was definitely worth much more.

He soon erased all thoughts of sentimentality that he was going through as they entered a room. He seemed to blank out through the journey through the lower floors up to the fourth floor, to the nurse’s station and now they were inside a room where an older man a bit younger than his own father lay looking frail but smiling all at the same time. If he was standing Sherlock would say he was a walking paradox.

Molly had walked over to him, leaving Sherlock standing at the entrance suddenly very awkwardly. His hands placed back in his trousers pockets as he watched the exchange for a brief moment before he notice the two others that he hadn’t glanced at first. A woman and a boy – no man who were sitting on different sides of the room. The woman was dressed as if she would be going to one of Mummy’s tea parties while the man looked like he had just came from work. He was wearing coveralls with a patch on it of a mechanic’s shop he had never heard of.

He had to be Molly’s brother however. He knew very little of him. Only that they didn’t talk all that much and he was her mother – the woman who was staring at him favorite out of the two siblings.

It annoyed him when families chose favorites. However as he avoided the gazes of both and focused back on the one true reason he was standing there. He noticed the way the man in the bed eyes had seemed to brighten as Molly reached down and embraced him and kissed him on the cheek. He loved his daughter that was clear.

“I don’t know if you were coming.” He listened to him say.

“I wouldn’t miss a visit.” Molly giggled as she stood up seeming to turn when she remembered that either she wasn’t alone or hadn’t come alone. Her mother seemed to speak before Molly could open her mouth to speak. “Who’s this, sweetheart?” The term of endearment almost mad Sherlock stiffen a bit. It didn’t sound sincere in the slightest but as to not make either of them uncomfortable he came forward and introduced himself.

“Sorry, I’m being quite rude. My name is Sherlock Holmes and Molly is being quite informative and useful at my family’s home. We’re making sure she also is going to King’s as well. She told me she comes here on Sundays so I thought I’d come alone to make sure she came back safely.” There was a smile on his face and Molly once again was covering her mouth as not to show a smile surfacing in front of him.

She knew exactly what he was doing but turned back to her dad who had requested to see the man who had taken his daughter into his home for a professional purpose. Sherlock stood tall, as always and walked towards the bed to stand beside Molly who looked a bit amused but at the same a bit nervous.

Why was she nervous? Sherlock ignored it for the moment to greet her father. “Sir.” He greeted as took the man’s outstretched hand and gave it a small squeeze. He didn’t know much about the condition of his health but didn’t want to break too many bones if he gave him too firm of a handshake.

“Do I look like a wimp to you, son? Shake my hand like a man.” His voice might have wavered the slightest bit, Sherlock chuckled as he shook it again as he asked before moving back as to not be brushing up Molly too much in the face of her own father. That was bit uncomfortable more so because of all the eyes that were peering at him. They were watching him like a hawk. He feel it on his back but didn’t falter in the slightest.

“Are you taking care of my Molly, Sherlock? I suppose you would be with you being a Holmes boy after all.”

Sherlock continued smiling and Molly couldn’t help but notice that he was faking as he was when he was greeting her mother a couple months ago. He was genuinely content with talking to her father about her and himself. Molly stopped herself from going anywhere else with that train of thought.

Sherlock just happened to be the one to bring her here. It would be much worse if it was someone like Mycroft Holmes who had accompanied her. Molly couldn’t stomach the thought of that. She was content in the company of the younger Holmes brother.

“Yes, sir.” She listened as Sherlock talked with her dad. He had a sureness about him that Molly had seen before. Everything he said he was sure was fact and that was interesting to see on display in front of those who may not see her as someone special. “Molly is in good hands. I am making sure she had everything she needs. She rarely wants anything though.”

“Oh, that’s Molly. She doesn’t ask for anything even if she might need anything.”

“She’s too quiet.” Her mother interjected suddenly causing Sherlock to turn for a fraction to look at the woman. Her face was blank and it unnerved him. He turned back to Molly and saw the way her face looked crestfallen and vulnerable. It was clear that their relationship wasn’t much of the best.

That’s why Sherlock spoke up. “I like the quiet. It doesn’t bother me. Gives me space to think or read.”

“You read?” Her dad asked looking excited.

“Oh, yes. My family has a massive library. I showed it to Molly just yesterday. I think she enjoyed it a lot.”

“She loves to read. Especially medical jargon. We could never get her to put a book down when she was little. I’m a reader myself too. Well, not these days but usually I’m reading something when I’m able.”

Sherlock nodded. They stood there talking with her family for a little while before it turned late and that’s when Sherlock apologized and told them they’d best be off but they’d come back neck week, definitely. Molly was in a bit of a hazy state of awe for this man who she had barely known – really known who was promising things like that.

That’s why when she walked alongside him towards the elevator she called out to him only to surprise him with a peek on his cheek. Her only explanation was a thank you. “Thanks for what you did back there. You didn’t have to stay. You didn’t have to defend me either. I’m fine with dealing with things like that on my own.”

Sherlock was about to comment about the look on her face after her mother’s comment when a shrill voice yelled his name. He turned that way as he pressed the down button on the elevator and hoped the elevator would get there before he would have to deal with this. He didn’t need Molly around when that happened.

He sighed in relief when it arrived and Molly began to ask him about the woman who was calling after him when he pushed her in. “Wait for me by the car. I’ll be right there.”

“Sherlock?” She asked him in confusion. The door closed before she could actually see what was going on. She pressed the key for the lobby and hoped she wouldn’t have to do much waiting. It had gotten dark out and it was a bit chilly.

Upstairs Sherlock was trying his best to dodge every advance coming his way by the woman with the voice that irritated him more than anything. When he finally was able to he bow out gracefully from her he made his way down to the car and to Molly who was beginning to get worried.

“What was that all about?”

“Nothing.” He sighed, as he got her in the car. Then he started the car and decided not to not tell her something. They had a good time, right? He liked her dad after all. “She’s a friend of my mother’s. I don’t really like her. Didn’t want you to see that catastrophe. That’s all.”

Molly understand better than he probably thought she did. All she did was nod as they headed back to the mansion. There were much more things on her mind now. It was all starting to make sense. The meeting and now that woman with the shrill voice. Oh, it made sense alright but Molly wouldn’t say anything. She did have a relative good day. That’s what she needed to focus on right now.

 


	5. Part Five

Molly Hooper had spent weeks in this monstrosity of a home. Though she found parts of it lovely,she grew wary of certain pieces of it. The ideas of the people who resided in it made her feel smaller compared to what she had before all of this. She knew if she wouldn't have accepted the terms that had been laid out for her that she would be gone from this place. A part of her wouldn't have minded but the part of her who had begun to see the good parts of it,would have wept.

Every morning since her classes had started at King's,she would wake up,get ready for the day and make sure she had all of things she needed before joining the Hudson's in their kitchen for a small bite to eat. From there she would accompany them into town and Martha would drop her off a block away from the main campus and she would walk the rest of the way. This wasn't an everyday occurrence but it happened enough that there was a small routine to have formed.

On days when she had her labs and lectures inside of the pathology building,Molly would almost always find another way to get to the college. The work for that day would always take place much later than she would allow for anyone to willingly take her in their car. Most of these days she would walk there. The Holmes' mansion wasn't particularly far away but it was still closer enough that she had that option. However,this day she was met by a surprise upon closing the door to the house and beginning to walk down the steps.

Sherlock Holmes was waiting for her. She hadn't seen much of him lately.

They would see each other when he came down to where she resided or the rare times when she found him in the library which she had to slowly work her way up to going just because it was so huge and intimidating. Sort of like those people in the room that day. She had started to think about what had happened there more and more.

She hadn't a real reason to brush aside the idea that she would be doing more inside the home besides being Sherlock's nurse. The act just hadn't come up as of yet. Martha had told her that her role would be instated soon enough. There was this big dinner coming up. She hadn't thought much about that either,but figured it was a big deal. Most night's she would come in late and would find Martha waiting up for her with a plate of food that she stowed away in the fridge for her.

She appreciated the woman more and more every day.

"Hi." She said,joining him at the bottom of the steps. He had on a pair of sunglasses on his face. She couldn't see his eyes but could tell she had his attention.

"I can drop you off. I'm going to that side of town for a little while." He told here,nodding as a hello as he gestured for her to follow him to his car which was parked a bit further down the last time she had gotten into it. There was also a lot of mud caked on the wheels of it. She knew he had been out of the house for a couple days at least.

Martha had discussed with her how he would just disappear for some days at a time. He would come back when suspicion would be at its most high. Molly never asked for these little insights into the man who seemed to always show up at the oddest of times,but she found it the slightest bit interesting to learn about it.

"Where are you going?" She asked him as he revved up the engine,and pulled out of the driveway.

"To check out something that surfaced recently in the area. I've been too busy until today. Studies going well,I suspect." He stated quietly –it wasn't a question. He was making an observation,switching gears quickly as they navigated through the throngs of cars and pedestrians.

Molly nodded,slowly not sure whether or not to bring up a little problem she was having at the college. Deciding that talking about that was not good conversation for the morning she chose to talk about the dissection she was going to do today. "I get to slice into a brain today."

"Human?" A small difference in his tone at the turn of subject.

She smiled. "Not yet. It's a lamb's brain and possibly a pig's as well. It depends where I get seated."

"You prefer the lamb,however." He told her, turning to her as they entered the district where most of the institutions crossed each other. Small ones nearer than the much larger ones.

"How would you know that?" Molly mumbled reaching for her bag as he made a quick right onto the street that held the building for the science department,the labs resided inside of them. The pathology department with the morgues were behind it. The car came to a halt as Sherlock parked and turned to her.

"You mentioned it first. If you really wanted to dissect a pig's brain you would have mentioned it first. So you hope that you'll get to try a hand of the first or possibly both if at all possible. It's possible." He told her confidently.

Molly looked at him in marvel of his quick observations. "Yes,well…thank you for the ride. Enjoy whatever it is you'll be doing." She said in a rush,as she opened the door and slipped out of it. She walked around the front of his car to get to the sidewalk,Sherlock rolled down the window to address her. "I most certainly will. If you're done by five forty-five,I'll be around to come get you. If not there will be a car."

Before she could even tell him that that wasn't necessary,he gave her a smile and then he was off.

She had to stop herself from smiling at his behavior. He was an odd man,but she appreciated his actions. He wasn't particularly cruel about any of that,so she couldn't complain.

"So,the rumors are true. You are quite friendly with the Holmes' or at the very least their very attractive and seemingly untouchable son."

Molly let out a sigh as she turned,the smile leaving her face at the trio of women who stood there in front of her. The problem was here.

Hours later when Molly had finished with her lecture for Intro to Anatomy and her dissection lab where she got to dissect both specimen's brains as Sherlock had said,she walked out of there smiling for a little while. It was nice to have a first cut even if it was something that had already been taken out of another body. It was fascinating to see all of the different pieces that created the grey matter of two different species. It was thrilling to her.

It had been a good day of course work and she was feeling better than she had been after Sherlock had left but the day was not ending. Instead,while walking out of the building her phone started ringing in her bag. She stopped just as she passed a set of trees to figure out where it was. She usually put it in the pockets but might have been caught in rushing during the switch from her lecture to the labs. They were in the same building but on two different sides of it. It was quite large.

She had to squat down,put her bag on the ground and move lots of journals and books out the way before she found it directly between an apple and a lime colored beanie that she had been given by her nana when she was still alive. She answered it in a huff.

"Dad?" She asked when she heard the gruffness of her father as he choked out slur of words. Something had happened to her mother and brother. A nurse had come in while he was eating supper and told him that they were both just admitted into the ER. "Where are you, Molls?"

"I'm just got out of class. Do you need me to come? I can find a way there." It was as if she was talking but she,herself was having trouble processing what going on. There was an accident,possibly. There also seemed to be tears leaking out of her eyes but she couldn't exactly feel it. Her body was reacting so traumatically to the news. Her dad needed her, they needed her.

She had bent down to grab her things as she listened to her father talk. He was a mixture of distress and calm. Much like herself. That was where she and Sherlock was the same. She didn't know much about his father or his family but there was something there that was so similar to her own family that she couldn't help but want to know what it was. She knew she couldn't possibly fixit,but knowing would help her understand why it was the way it was.

She began to walk out to the sidewalk where she had been dropped off by Sherlock. She hadn't expected to see anyone. A car maybe but certainly not the man standing before her. He had forgotten the shades that he had on his face earlier. Now,he stood against the car leaning back as his eyes searched the area. Several people milling around,some looking but it didn't seem like he was paying much attention to any of them.

When his eyes landed on her he smiled shortly. Molly looked away from him as she continued talking to her dad. "Yeah,I know." She told him,gripping her bag on her shoulder to secure it. He had just told her that he knew that going to see either of them wasn't going to be easy. None of them gave her an easy time, the fact that they were in pain and injured wouldn't make them any more tolerable. Especially if she was to go there on her own.

"I'll be fine,Dad. I'll come to see you after I go there,okay? I know you're worried about them." She mumbled as she looked up and saw that Sherlock wasn't standing near the car anymore. He was nowhere to be seen. She turned around only to nearly brush into someone very lean and well built. She looked up to see him standing there. His head tilted to the side as his eyes moved from side to side. He was concerned but trying to appear so.

She wiped her face with her hand as she heard her Dad end the call with an "I love you. See you later."

"Hey." She said to him as she stowed her phone away,this time in the pocket where it usually was.

"You need to go to the hospital."

If Molly hadn't been going through an ordeal right now and wasn't about to have a complete breakdown she'd probably asked him again how he was able to just know what she needed or anything in relation to her at all. However instead she just said,"Yeah."

"Is your dad okay?"

"He's fine." She muttered as she got back into the car. She didn't give him any more than that and she figured he took her silence as a way of him not to pry for the moment. She needed to think about other things. Things like what awaited her the moment she would go back to the Holmes'. That was much more detrimental to her health than visiting her family who may or may not scream at her because they were in pain.

So she thought back to that meeting where she met the father and the other son and got reacquainted with the mother.

_The first thing she had thought upon entering the room was that she had been assembled to take part in some sort of assessment. They all looked so well put together. So intimidating, especially the young man who looked to be a few years older than Sherlock. His hair was brushed back away from his face. He sat in a chair off to the side of his mother. She sat there with button up shirt that screamed elegance, the collar set off in a shade of lilac while the rest of the ensemble slid down her slim frame in shades of navy and black. On any other person who probably would have looked odd but on a woman with such finesse and regal stature it looked quite lovely on her._

_His father,sat behind the desk a pair of horn shaped glasses on his face and pen in his hand as he wrote on a piece of paper. He looked up briefly once seeing that she was there. "Miss Hooper,nice of you to join us. It shouldn't be too long of a meeting. I'm sure you have other things to do. My wife thought it was customary that we meet our newest house guest. She unlike me had been surprised by your arrival. Sherlock had mentioned it to me a couple days before his retire from that sport. He didn't say much but I asked to get a file from Michael about you before you were hired the first time. You've hold a lot of promise."_

_"So much promise." The son muttered. Molly's eyes flickered to him briefly as she assessed his gaze on her. She had met him before, several times in fact. He held the same look as every time before. He didn't like her for some reason._

_"Yes,and that's why beyond whatever it was Sherlock has asked of you we have one more thing we feel will be more than adequate for you skill set. If not,you can learn from Martha and that daughter of hers." The mother spoke in a tone that Molly had to try not make it obvious she hated. Contempt,she held a lot of that for Molly in particular. She and Mycroft were the same. They felt she wasn't worthy of being allowed here._

_At least they had something in common. Molly refrained from uttering a word as she listened to the new set of guidelines she was to follow._

_"You will help with the serving and clearing away of dinner."_

_"A simple dress will be provided for you to wear during this time,you will wear nothing different. All help,has the same attire."_

_"When in the presence of those who are guests and not,refer to any as "sir,madam,miss,etc.", it allows some sort of welcoming that is not any different from anyone who houses elsewhere."_

_"Finally,do not fraternize with those above you if you are not spoken to directly when working or not."_

_The last one was going to be harder for Molly than anything else. She had already done so on a few occasions already when it came to Sherlock. She still didn't understand why that rule had been stated. She wouldn't harm him or anyone that may come in or out of the house. She wasn't one to meddle in things that she wasn't directly a part of._

_"Do you understand all of the above rules and regulations,Miss Hooper?" The missus asked again as Molly had seemed to space out for a moment. Molly gave a terse nod and slowly got to her feet. "I understand." She told her carefully. She eyed each of them with care as she began to leave the room. It was full of such old fashion ideals,not only what she had come to see and hear with her own eyes but the entire look of it. Max(imus) had been correct. That was not a good place to ever be called to._

_As she reached for the doorknob to leave them she heard the cool voice of his father speak in a much more soothing tone. "Welcome to the manor,Molly. I do hope you enjoy your time here." Molly gulped as she let herself out only to come face to face with her one and only relief and source of conflict; Sherlock Holmes._

Molly watched Sherlock as he took the key out of the ignition and even when she told him that she didn't need him to come inside the hospital with her. She would be fine,she found herself being helped out of the car and being led inside. She took the forefront of their pair –talking to the nurses to find out what floor her brother was on,pressing the button to go up but she wasn't ever on her own. Sherlock had declined her idea that he would leave her alone. He stayed near at all times.

She wished to tell him that this wasn't a good idea. Him wanting to be around her so much. The idea of tell him what his family had laid out for her in and out of the house was something she didn't think she would like being a part of. He would find out sooner or later. Sooner if she knew what she would have to do at the dinner. A piece of this game that she hadn't the slightest clue was beginning.

It wasn't until they were back in the house and Lilith had practically dragged her away from Sherlock who stood there looking down right confused about why there was so much force on the youngest daughter of Mrs. Hudson into getting her away from him and down to their quarters. He hadn't even gotten a chance to full discuss anything with Molly.

He had stayed outside the doors of the rooms where her mother was,and around the corner of the one her brother slept in. They both had been asleep but Molly had stayed an hour in each of their rooms. He had heard her speaking to them even if they had no way of hearing any kind thing she had uttered to them like the sweet daughter and sister she was. Even when the odds of them returning the sentiments back,she showed herself to be just as caring as always.

It was only during the time with her father that Sherlock entered a room. He had been around the man a few times since Molly's residency at his home. He joined her on three of the six visits to visit him and now here was the fourth one. He smiled at him and sat against the wall as Molly spoke to him about her brother and her mother and about the dissection today where yes,she had done both specimens. He held back a smile at how happy she seemed to be discussing such bleak matters with her father.

He didn't stay on the wall too long as her father had called him over to talk about something he had seen on the news. Two men had died from a seemingly fatal dose of antihistamine. He asked him questions about it,having realized the man might have known more as he had seen him with a paper a few times looking through it. He had heard of it but hadn't really made many inquiries about it. They talked for a little while before a nurse came in with his nightly dose of medicine and told them that they would have to leave. The hospital was closing for visiting hours.

"Rest well,sir." Sherlock told him awkwardly as Molly pressed a kiss to his forehead before stepping back and walking towards the door with him trailing behind her.

Now,he stood at the staircase getting ready to head back up to his room to dress for dinner as he knew this one was supposed to be a big deal. He wouldn't be wearing anything different but he might need a new pair of trousers and a new shirt. He had torn a piece of it during his time outside today and now he would need to get them mended or throw them away.

Upon getting up to his room and opening his closet,he took the dark purple shirt out knowing his mother would at least appreciate it seeing as all the showy stuff was because of her. His father couldn't care less and seeing as his brother had made a reappearance just for the occasion he would just want to show him that he was capable of doing things right even if he was present. Not that he really cared what his brother thought.

He began to unbutton his shirt and winced as he pulled it off. He looked over his shoulder to see the tear in his own skin. It wasn't bleeding that much anymore but he would need to put something over it until dinner was over and he could get Molly to look at it. He trusted her more than any of the others. If not her,if she was too tired he could get Mrs. Hudson to do it. He'd rather Molly at this point because he still needed to talk to her. Actually talk to her. He hadn't done that in a long time.

He reached over into the drawer on his work table where he kept a small amount of gauze and bandages for instances just like this and made quick work of it. Slipping on his shirt and finishing off his ensemble with his jacket. He inspected himself in the mirror before going down.

There were several things he didn't expect to see upon sitting down for the meal. One being the woman who plopped down next to him. He had been doing so well at avoiding her and her advances which only seemed to be encouraged by his own mother. Didn't she understand that he didn't like this? It made me uncomfortable.

He fought to remember her name as he said hello to her out of politeness than the fact that she was basically on his arm jabbering away like someone trying to get you to sell something. He glared at Mycroft who seemed to be all that more amused at the look of annoyance on his face as he had to pretend to actually be listening to any of the trivial things that was coming out of the woman's mouth.

Ah,yes her name was Carroll Meredith Pearson an old family friend of his mother's middle child. They met when he was eleven and forced to attend a party with his mother. He had stuck to her side,his mother not the girl. She did make it a point to try to drag him out to the other children that had been in attendance. He had run away from her. At one point he could faintly remember shouting at her at how irritating she was and that had gotten her away from him. Only to meet him again a few years later when they were both in high school at the academy.

Sherlock had done nearly everything to get his parents to allow him to have home studies. In the end he graduated from the private academy and then begun to take his uni courses at home with a teacher who knew a variety of intriguing subjects. Well,he had went through four before that one. Now,he was working on a bit of a solo load of work where he didn't require much as far as instruction went.

Now,the girl now a woman sat next to him being nearly as annoying. Except there was the added bonus that they were around family so he couldn't say anything rude. He had wanted to.

He had nearly decided to excuse himself during the first course when the second surprise came into the room. Molly Hooper was there,of course but she was dressed just like Martha and Lilith. A simple black dress fitted around her. It was a very appealing garment but she seemed to wear it nicely enough. Her hair was pulled back away from her face. She did look tired among things but that's not what bothered him the most.

She had tray in her hand and quickly begun to set down glass after glass of Chardonnay and sparkling water for those who had not be at the age to drink just yet. She moved about in a hurry and he was almost sure she would trip up. She had the habit of being clumsy at times. She seemed to be running on adrenaline.

It was as she finally came around the long table to his side that he made his dislike of this known. Molly had just reached over to set down a new plate of food for Carroll that Sherlock took her wrist in his hand,pulling her to his side. Molly let out a breath as she turned her attention to him. "Yes,sir?"

The last word fell flat out of her mouth as she glanced slightly at the woman who was sitting next to him. She focused on him as he asked, "What…what are you doing?"

Molly knew that he knew what she was doing but she answered him anyway. "Working." She told him as she slid her hand from his grasp and told back around,nodding to Maxwho was watching her closely as she sighed and headed back through the side door where Martha was waiting with a glass of water for her.

"He's upset dearie. When he invited you here I don't think he understood that he would have to see you this way."

Molly nodded knowing that that's why he reacted that way and why she was sure he would act even more negatively towards his family later after this dinner was over. "Go on, we can handle the rest of this. Go out to the garden. It's quite lovely. I don't think you've been there just yet."

She drunk the water slowly before handing the glass back to Martha and handing Lilith her empty tray. She walked down the hallway,to her room and kicked off the heels she had on for her flats. She half stepped out of the room before deciding to grab her grey cardigan because it was rather chilly out tonight and she followed the trail up to the opening between the trees where the garden flowed in rows and rows. There were also vegetation the ground but it was the flowers that captured her attention and she sat on her knees in front of a row of lilies and she cried.

This was not a good day and she needed to let it go.

Sherlock Holmes was furious. He had stormed into his father's office mere moments after dinner was concluded. He knew that's where they would all go. They always came up here. As if they were plotting more of the wrongs that they could do.

His mother was the worst. He couldn't look at her as he continued to pace. He wasn't sure what to start with. There was too much to cover and he didn't know how to not just start yelling at them. If he was any other person he was sure this would seem as if the roles had switched. The parents were supposed to be doing the yelling. They were supposed to be the one furious over something the child had done.

That's the thing,he hadn't done anything wrong since obliging with their wishes for him to stop boxing. He had stopped,and was going on with his studies within their home. "Has she done something wrong?" He started.

"No." His father was the first to answer. He knew exactly who his son was talking about. He had already known how unsettling the news would come to Sherlock in regards to Miss Hooper and her new duties.

"Then why is she doing that?" He huffed, stopping mid stride. He turned to all of them,a glare deep in his eyes.

"Every person in this house has a role, Sherlock. We all have to do our part." His mother spoke. A frown set on his face at her wording.

"She has a role with me,mother. What are you trying to do?"

"Sherlock,Miss Hooper has made no objections about it." Mycroft stated.

"Well of course not,Mycroft. She doesn't like to disappoint people even if she feels uncomfortable. She feels that she owes you all something."

"How do you know that?" His mother asked while his brother said something completely different. "I would say her feelings are ample in their assumption. No one lives for free."

Sherlock walked towards his brother,his hands coming to grip at the lapels of his coat. He was leaving again,he knew. "I'm sorry I didn't quite hear what you just said."

"SHERLOCK!" Both of his parents shouted at him. He held his older brother up there for a little longer before letting him going,his hands straightening him up a little bit before walking away. "It's not okay what you're doing," He muttered looking at his mother. He knew she was the one to blame for this. She always had to meddle into affairs that had nothing to do with her and make them worse or what she thought was better. It was the same reason why she had invited that imbecile to come dine with them tonight. "I would have thought you'd put your foot down about this matter when you and I discussed her coming here and what would happen. You're a man for crying out loud,dad." Sherlock growled at his dad.

His dad held a look of great sadness in his eyes as he watched his youngest son go. He turned to his wife and stood up. He let out a deep sigh. "You have no idea what you've started. Sherlock is right. Molly Hooper isn't some young peasant as you so adeptly called her that day when she left the meeting with the three of us. She is a bright young woman who had plenty of potential for what lays ahead for her. Stop this now,or I will do something you really won't like." The underlying tones of his dark message was just as fiery as the son who had left his company.

He would go to him now,Mycroft knew. That was the thing about the two brothers. Each parent had picked one of them. It wasn't about favorites,it was more about who reminded the other of whom. Who would less likely cause conflict for whom and lastly which one of them held more potential in the eyes of the mother or the father. Mycroft detested it but always sided with his mother because to him her ideals mattered more than anything that could ever come when it concerned sentiment.

Sentiment would get you nowhere. Caring was not an advantage. He had learned that the hard way. Not that Sherlock knew anything about that. He was never around to.

Trevor Holmes was a man of many faces. He wore a mask most days to hide away the confliction that he dealt with on a daily basis. He let the mask fall when in the presence of only those who counted to him. Sherlock Holmes counted more than anyone. He was so much like him,it pained him to see his youngest of two boys so upset over something that used to matter so little. If he knew the story of how he met his mother,he would think differently but alas he didn't care to share that. It would only turn Sherlock away from him more. He was trying to avoid that the best that he could.

"Sherlock," He called to him,he had tossed away his suit's jacket and was heading out to the garden when he found him. Sherlock stopped knowing that his father only came out when he felt like he needed to address something that troubled him. That was Sherlock's part in his father's life. He was always there to listen to him and at times give feedback into what he thought was happening.

Sherlock locked eyes with his father and saw the way his face fell as he watched him. The boy's shoulders were tense and he looked ready to pounce on anyone. "What do you have to say now?"

"I'm sorry,son. I know you came to me before asking Miss Hooper to come stay with us and told me all of the things that you thought I needed to hear about her. It is as clear then as it is now that you care about her a great deal despite so little interaction between the two of you. It's to be expected after all,she did tend to you for quite some time. However it isn't acceptable to use someone in order to try to back out of a situation you knew would soon come to you. Your mother only wants the best for you despite the way she does it. She doesn't want our family to crumble."

"You think Molly is a hindrance to whatever you want from me the moment my studies have completed itself. I can honestly say,that she is not. It is true that I hold her with high regard and am grateful for her continuing to tend to me as I navigate through different recreational activities outside of our home but you don't understand why. You hold mother at arm's length and I am attempting to do the same but Molly Hooper is something different. She isn't like any of us. I am fascinated by it…" Sherlock trailed off not sure where he could go with this. He doubt that no one truly understood what was happening to him.

"You always get so fascinated by the littlest of things. Always have,just don't let it ruin you. You have so much ahead of you Sherlock."

"I've already told you that I don't want any of it. I'd rather drown than get mixed in with what you do. It's so dull and boring. I like puzzles and mysteries."

"Yes,I am aware. I have a friend who would like to meet you to discuss an opening elsewhere for you to dabble in all the mysteries you could ever want but that won't happen until you do what you need to do. We need you here,Sherlock."

"Why couldn't you just choose,Mycroft? He's more than capable to do all of this. I'm sure he would love to do it,in fact. It's not too late to change it."

"Your brother has already exceeded the age limit required for this position in our family but it was offered to him. He was the one to decline it. He also has an occupation now outside of this family. One that requires his full attention."

Sherlock let out a sigh,"Whatever." He mumbled as he head back towards the gardens where he had been headed to long before his father decided that they needed to talk. He had just made matters worse. Sherlock wished to be left alone now. He didn't need anyone bothering him.

Sherlock stopped when he came to the rows of strawberry trees. They looked more like single branches that sprouted out more and more but they held small bits of fruit that was growing. He reached out to take one when he heard a sniffle not even fifteen steps away. He turned at it and called out the name of the only person who he could think would be out here at this time of night and crying. "Molly?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Hey there! It’s been a month since the last chapter, and I’m really sorry about that. When it comes to this story I have a bit more of a structure and plan that I’m still working on flushing out in my mind so it may take a little time for updates to come. I know that’s not really something people like to hear but just thought I’d let you all know what’s going on. That paired with the fact that I am getting ready to move again, I just want to keep everyone in the loop. Anyway I hope you enjoy this one. Thank you all so much for your feedback. It really helps me keep this going. I love you guys._  
>  Much love,   
> day 
> 
> _P.S. This picks back up where we ended the last one and well it basically has a lot feels in it, so maybe this makes up for my updating delay. Sorry about that cliffhanger, I can’t say if it won’t happen again though. -.- This chapter might also be disorganized and I honestly don’t know what to say about that but I hope you find some enjoyment from my clutter. Whoops._

**PART SIX**

Molly was quick to get to her feet and wipe her face although it was still a bit red. She backed tracked a little bit and hid behind an oak tree that was near. She knew it was silly to hide when Sherlock already knew she was there. How he knew? She hadn’t the slightest clue but she stood there trying to relax herself even in the slightest. Her heart had sped up when she heard him call her name. She felt silly really, but at the same time she didn’t think the events of the past hours was juvenile in the slightest.

There was so much going on and it wasn’t wrong for to feel a little bit overwhelmed by it all. Especially when Sherlock Holmes seemed to be at the center of it. She was still trying to gather what it was about him and this place that seemed to trigger such hostility with others around it. Molly, if she really thought about it knew there were a lot of things that were hidden in this manor behind locked doors and up in places she wasn’t allowed because of her position. There were secrets and ideas that she doubt she would ever understand but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t try to get it in order to find her place here. She knew who she was, and that wasn’t going to change because of someone else’s ideals of where she fit. She knew where she belonged.

It did make her feel a bit conflicted as to what she was supposed to do. She couldn’t just pretend that everything was perfectly okay. It wasn’t. These people didn’t function like normal people did, not that she exactly knew what normal people did. Her own family wasn’t exactly a prime example of this. If anything they might be a bit more structurally put together than her own. She didn’t think it matter entirely, however.

Sherlock called for her once again and she took the time to take in a few deep breathes before slipping back into view. He didn’t look any difference than he was when she left him in the dining room with his family. He didn’t have his suit’s jacket on anymore and he had rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Apart from that he still looked over much like himself and she thought that was good. He was staring at her in that way that she noticed he did whenever he looked at her. She still couldn’t figure out what that meant exactly but she decided against not saying anything.

“Are you okay?” She said quietly as she clasped her hands in front of her. Sherlock eyes blinked quickly as if he realized as to where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. “I thought I heard crying.”

Molly shook her in reply despite the fact that she had been doing just that. She didn’t want him to worry about her. She imagined he had bigger fish to catch. “It’s a lovely garden.” She told him as she averted her gaze to the flowers and fruit that surrounding them. He was still a bit further away in distance but she was sure he could see what he wanted.

“Yes, my grandmother started it when my father was born and he’s been sure to keep it up with gardeners when he himself is unable to come out and dally in it. It’d probably be more vibrant in the daylight.” He trailed off as he took a few small steps as he came to her side. Molly stood there silently as he looked her over. He must have found something peculiar for he leaned down, picking up one of her hands in his causing her to train her irises back on him and what she could see of him. He was a rather lean silhouette in the darkness but she could feel his palm as it folded around hers. His breath was a light fan against her brow as he faced her.

“Your voice wavers when you’re trying to hide emotion and the leaves from the oak tree to our right crunches whenever anyone walks anywhere around it which leads me to believe you were trying to hide from me because you’re upset. You’re not upset about the dinner or the fact that I am irritated over the whole idea of your new position in the house but about everything as a whole. Today has been less than fine and you, Molly Hooper care entirely too much.”

“Would you prefer if I stopped caring?” She sighed, not knowing where he was going with any of this or why he decided that in dark he wanted to talk about any of this. What was this? She didn’t think anything. She felt like he was just rambling on to someone who as he said did care about what went on and didn’t feel like they had a stake in anything. It was his reply that rattled her.

“No, I do not prefer if you stopped caring. That would mean you would stop being you and you are here because I enjoy your compassion for me.”

Molly stayed silent for a moment. She didn’t know how to take his words. Was he trying to accomplish something here or was he being genuine about this thoughts about her? Instead of down right asking him about it she found herself distracted by what she could see of him. On one side of him he was stiff and straight while the other was relaxed and showing off signs of discomfort. How those two pieces could mix was beyond her but it did concern her to the point that she had to make an inquiry.

“What’s wrong with your shoulder?”

Sherlock took a step back, letting going of her hand as he rolled his shoulder a bit, she heard him make a little yelp. He was in pain. “That was the thing I came out here to discuss with you. I need you to take a look at it. I may have harmed myself during a little adventure today.”

“What kind of adventure?” She asked as she placed a hand along his back beginning to turn him back towards the house and out of the garden. She didn’t seem to care much about anything else. Not what he had told her, she had turned back into the professional that she tried to be when it came to his injury. It being the first one since her coming to the manor. Sherlock couldn’t help but smirk at her as she tried to find out everything that she could before they made it back to her room where all of her medical things were left.

He had tried to goad her into going into the actual house – his room in fact but she had just insisted that this was faster and she didn’t want any kind of infection to have started.

When they got in her room, she was quick to instruct him to sit and undress himself. He tried not to chuckle at the irony that this situation held. The last time he was before her and shirtless she had blushed and told him to put a shirt on. That had been weeks ago when she was about to leave his life for good.

Look where they were now. He hadn’t decided if that meant little to anything currently. As he wasn’t sure if he could actually keep her here, permanently. If she left him and this place where he knew she found a little piece with the Hudsons, he wasn’t sure how he would react to it. It was something that had begun to trickle in the back of his mind. Especially with all of the going ons of his family and what they wanted from him. He would try to start a balance of both of them if at all possible.

Molly had placed her bag of medical gear up in her closet. It was at a particularly high spot but she could manage to get it. There was a stool sitting next to it the door, which she grabbed before moving to step onto it and move the box she had thrown up there with miscellaneous things that she didn’t need around the room. As she was reaching for the bag she had shifted on the stool and nearly fallen off of it if it hadn’t been for the shirtless man in the room.

He had been settled in the chair that sat at the desk but had got bored after a few minutes and went back to focusing on Molly who seemed to be struggling a bit. It was a good thing he had already walked over to that side of the small room or she could have fallen and hit her head or worse. His arm was wound around her waist supporting her as she had reached out for his shoulder – the bad one it seemed as she tried awfully hard not wince or  make her see that he was actually in a world of pain. Molly noticed of course, she always did when it came to pain and the like. That was why he needed her around. She knew how to fix it, quickly.

“You couldn’t have grabbed me with the other arm?” He found himself chuckling as he placed her back on the ground. At least she didn’t comment on the fact that he was flustering her again with his lack thereof clothing. That was something different that he hadn’t seen before. Perhaps these courses at King’s was helping her more than he thought. Despite it keeping her away for hours when he too was immersed in his studies, he did wonder how she coped with this new area of her life. She never talked about it. He decided to bring it up as he straddled the chair as per her instructions. He waited while she peeled away the tape and gauze he had placed over the wounded area on his shoulder.

He heard her sigh as she looked over it. It must not have looked too good as she quickly went to work at pouring something rather cool but stingy on it and then he could hear her digging into her bag for something. “What were you doing when you got hurt?”

“Fencing.” He sighed. He tighten his hold of the chair as he felt something rather sharp prodding at the torn flesh of his shoulder. “What are you doing?” He grumbled, his eyes shut as he tried not to groan out in pain.

“You have something wedged in your shoulder. You were already on your way to it getting infected, I don’t think me getting it out would be such a bad idea. Is there any other kind of fencing that I don’t know about that requires there to be shards of glass or broken up crystal to get imbedding in your arm? Aren’t you supposed to be wearing protective garbs or something?”

“Molly…” He called her name trying to get her to relax. For a brief moment he liked it when she didn’t ask questions about the things he’s did. It made it seem like she didn’t care for him the slightest, despite the contrary of all of that. Molly Hooper probably cared more for his wellbeing than say his brother did at this point.

“Yes?” She asked as she continued to dig for whatever it was that was lodged in his shoulder. It was nice distraction over the fact that she had a rather adequate justification for her inspecting his broad shoulders and all the ligaments in between, around and along them. He was a rather glorious specimen, she knew that.

“Focus on the task.” Molly was quiet for a moment, trying not to necessarily hurt him anymore than he already was while also trying to get the blasted thing out. How could she see it? It was large enough that it was visible from the open flesh. She had almost had it when Sherlock reached out for her wrist and took the forceps out of her hand. “I almost had it, Sherlock.”

“You were taking too long, Molly.” He huffed. “Directed me in the right direction and I’ll finish the job.”

Molly frowned but grabbed the mirror that sat on her dresser and placed it an angle so that as his head was turned enough that he could see where he needed to start that she could also give him a better view of it. It was a sound plan for the moment.

They were together for a few moments, him growing more frustrated by the second before nearly yanking the piece out in one quick movement. He dropped it on the floor and slumped against the chair in agony. That hurt more than he thought it would. It wasn’t even a large piece of glass either. It was rather miniscule in size.

Molly felt really bad about it, but quickly cleaned it with antiseptic and a bit of peroxide and grabbed her suture kit that was tucked in the right sleeve on the outside of the bag and got to work with a few stitches to close up the wound finally. While doing so she distracted Sherlock who seemed to stiffen up a bit when she started the first bit of it by telling her about the dissection that she had done earlier on. She was still quite proud of doing two in one day. None of her others peers had tried to and thought her a bit odd for that but she left that bit out. She mumbled a “sorry, that was probably a bit weird while I was stitching you up”.

Sherlock smiled at her as he turned around. She had put a bandage over his shoulder before signaling that they were done here. “No, it was interesting. I’ve never done one actually. It’s good hearing that you do know what you are doing. Not like I didn’t already know that. You’ve done this before with me.”

Molly just nodded, smiling as she turned to start to clean up. Sherlock reached down to grab the forceps with the shard of glass not too far away from it. His shoulder did hurt but he felt better knowing it would hurt less in a few days because he actually had someone to look over it. He moved to stand up and get his shirt which he had tossed on her bed but back tracked a bit and leaned over Molly’s shoulder catching her a bit off guard. His hesitant and quiet “thank you” rumbled from underneath his chest.

The words sounded almost loopy coming out of his mouth but that wasn’t what had Molly trying not to drop any of the mess she had in her hands. He had pecked her on the cheek briefly before he had moved away from her. When she had tossed all of the bloody pieces of cotton and towels in a bag for disposal and put all of her utensils on a tray to clean later on, she turned around to ask him why he felt like he had to add that onto the thank you. She was just doing her job.

But he wasn’t there.

Later though, when she had gone to bed after cleaning her things away and putting the bag away. Sherlock had come back down and was standing against the door with Max who had followed me despite his own sleepy appearance. “You should go to bed, Max.” Sherlock had told him quietly.

“You should too, Sherlock.” The young boy yawned, but didn’t move from his spot. Sherlock smirked at the younger boy who had assumed the guard of protection for his friend. He sighed, closing the door and gesturing for the boy to move forward. “We’ll both go now. C’mon” He replied. He did look back at the door for a moment when he got Max down the hall into his room.

The thing was, Sherlock didn’t know what why he had decided to go down there. His feet sort of did the thinking for him at that moment.  He hadn’t be tired in the slightest.

 


	7. Part Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Creative breaks (burnt out for a bit), going to conventions (as Molly and Sherlock), lots of life things, etc. were a thing for a while. Sorry for taking so long to update anything not just this one. I hope you like, regardless. Thanks for all the support guys. I really appreciate it. 
> 
> Much love,
> 
> Day
> 
> P.S. I was listening to [I don’t trust myself (for loving you) Live at the Nokia Theater](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fg_rkQWB6I) by John Mayer during quite a bit of this. It contributed to a lot of this. Especially when we get to the bit when Michael and Sherlock talk. You guys remember Michael, right? (Refers everyone to chapter one). Listen to that track for more of an effect during the remainder of the chapter when you get to that part. Read on! :)

**PART SEVEN**

Worrying was something that Sherlock felt wasn’t necessary even when things look dire. It wasn’t exactly that currently. However, circumstances were something he was concerned about. Ever since the unfortunate night when he found her in the garden there had started to be little things that he picked up on that made it clear of what Molly might have trying to do. She was trying to take steps away from him. It wasn’t obvious but there were times when he was enjoying her company in the library or out back where there were minimal people milling around that she came up with excuses to disappear from his view.

It wasn’t just that either. Some days she didn’t come back to the house. He had expressed his thoughts to Mrs. Hudson one night when Maximus and Lilith had gone to bed and she was the only one awake still. More than likely she was also waiting to see if there would be any show of the woman who she had come to know in a very close setting. Working together to upkeep parts of the house that the other maids didn’t get to, cooking and all of that. She told him not to worry and though he denied such claims it made him feel uneasy not knowing whether or not Molly was to keep away from the house. From him ultimately. There were no reasons for this and it was beginning to frustrate him more than concern him.

He had done his best since her arrival to accommodate her in any way that he could to smooth the transitions. Albeit, the new revelations of having to balance working inside the house and her coursework could be a part of it as well. He didn’t know exactly what it could be but he planned to have a calm discussion with her about it. As calm as he could seeing as she was a rather emotional person. Circumstances again taking a part in that. Both here where several members of the household had aversions to her presence and the matters dealing with her family.

He should have thought of it sooner. Perhaps, she had merely been wanting to spend more time with her ill father, and her brother and mother since they were recovering at a much slower pace than was anticipated by the doctors. He hadn’t been back to the hospital since the last time when he had taken her there after the accident. However, it wasn’t in the realm of impossibility that she would want to go alone. How did she get there? That was something he wasn’t sure of.

He had been pacing for the better part of the morning when Michael came in and informed him of a guest waiting for him downstairs. Reminding him to dress. He was still in his silk dressing gown and lounge wear. He had an inkling of who it might have been. With less appearances of Molly there had also been a prominent fixture of another woman in his home; his life.

He let out a frustrated sigh, not wanting to be anywhere near that woman but knowing that there would be more hell to pay from his mother if he didn’t at least attempt to appease Carroll for the time being. Besides he could hear his mother’s words in his head, “She’s come all this way. The least you could do is chat her up for a little while. You’re not busy. Pacing in your room and moping is not productive; conversing is Sherlock. Now, go to her now.”

He ran a hand through his hair roughly as he flung his gown to the floor and pulled out another dress shirt and a pair of trousers to change into. This was all so tedious and irritating. Why couldn’t they see that he wanted no part of their plans? They couldn’t just force him into any of this. He needed to make his own way in the world. He couldn’t be like Mycroft. Albeit his brother never latched onto the role that was required of him.  It fell onto him and that was more reason for him to not be sorry for lashing out at him in the office that day.

After dressing, he glanced at himself in the mirror before making his way down to entertain the woman who was supposed to edge him in the right direction. A direction he did not want. Running away was not an answer, currently no matter how many times he had thought about it.

This occurred for three days straight, with no sign of Molly. He had little time to even try to contact the hospital to find out if she had been there the whole time or go to the college to see for himself if she had even been there for her classes on Friday, or the lab which had been open only on Saturday for a small window of time. It became more apparent that Mrs. Hudson had even squashed the presence of downplay on her lack thereof worry for the woman. She had even taken a cab with Maximus to look by the dirt that had collected around the hems of her skirts and the young boy’s shoes. Muddy as they were, it was clear they had looked in most places for Molly. Coming up with nothing at all.

It nearly confirmed his suspicions that she had ventured somewhere that was uncommon to any of them. Possibly uncommon for herself as well. For what, exactly? All these questions kept circling around his mind with no answers. He kept all of it inside as he found himself in the company of Carroll once again. It had been an almost full week of this and he didn’t think he could handle much more of her company. One night was enough, but six and a half nights straight having to converse and pretended that he cared about anything that was going on in her life or that of her friends was something he couldn’t tolerate for much longer. It was pleasing his mother very much, and though he abhorred it entirely there was a part of him that wanted to stay in her good graces. After the blowup with his family in the office there had been little nice words left to say on the matters that he cared about dearly.

He was getting ready to lead the woman out of the house after she finished the story she was retelling him of something amusing that happened earlier in the day with a happy expression on her face as she touched his arm which she had slipped into his grasp under his watchful gaze. He found it was easier to try to seem okay with her actions rather than to lash out at her with sarcasm and annoyance. He had attempted that on the first two occasions when she first started coming around only to realize that it did little good for this case. Carroll would either frown at him or seem to find something in it that upset her and he had to change tactics to something of a more amicable sort.

Now, he stood with her in the entrance taking glances at the door every so often while also trying to appear that he was actually paying attention to what she was saying. If only to appease the man in the suit a few paces behind them watching them as if waiting for Sherlock to say something rude again which was something that happened often when he was in her company. On the third day he was so annoyed that he just said anything that came to his mind which led her to the wash room, and then a good talk to from his father who had come down after a call was made by the man who had been looming around him for quite some time ever since the visits between Carroll started. He had been forced to apologize and then play her a piece on his violin which was something he held with much higher care than he did for any of the things that were going on right now.

As he suspected her tale coming to a quick close, the door suddenly open and in stumbled a wary looking Molly. He had to stop himself form extracting himself from Carroll to assess her. People were watching him. There was another man standing on the stairs, one in the next room and one behind the plant near the door.

Molly faltered a moment, he realized she had noticed at least two of them as well. Looking up at him briefly. Licking her lips which he noticed was split open among other very startling things about her appearance. One of which was the state of her clothes. It looked like she had stumbled into muck or had a tussle in the dirt. Regardless, she held his gaze for a moment before nodding and muttering “Evening”, and walking past them and down the stairs that led her to her homestead.

He tried for those few moments that he held her gaze to try to find any clue as to what was going through her head or maybe what had happened to result in her looking like that. It was clear she got hurt somehow. Whether another person was involved he really wouldn’t know until he could go talk to her. He and his companion were quiet for a few brief moment. He felt unease while there seemed to be some questions lingering on Carroll’s part. She said nothing but watched him carefully as he continued staring at the door as if it held all the answers to what he was seeking.

He waited a beat, as he could clearly hear Mrs. Hudson’s shouts of bewilderment mixed in with glee at the sight of the woman. He quickly veered his attention back to his special guest, as Michael had come to calling her. Sherlock had a feeling Michael could read his lack of enthusiasm when it came to Carroll and took it upon himself to not make him want to punch him the face by making any smart remarks about their acquaintanceship. Not that he would exactly go for violence with him, Michael knew more fighting styles than he did and that wouldn’t solve anything. However, it wouldn’t stop him for going for his throat if he felt pissed enough. It had never came to that and he hoped it never would.

“It was a pleasant night with you, Carroll. Thank you.” He was quite stiff in saying all of that as he led her towards the door. He knew she was going to try to ask that they do something else in the future however, he evaded that by saying “I have to go out of town for a few days but I will be in touch when I make my return. I hope you sleep well tonight.” He smiled at her as kindly as he could.

Carroll beamed at him, there was slight confusion in her eyes but it dispersed once he calmly led her down the steps and into the car that would take her back to her home that was a few blocks away. He was trying to get rid of her but also attempting to erase any ill feels she might have had at the change of his demeanor at the entrance of the servant girl as she had termed her a few times while in his company. It was during those discussions that he had to remind himself that there was a reason he had to put up with this. There were also several reasons why he lied to her just then about going out of town. He needed time away from her, and Molly had returned. He had more pressing matters (to him) to concern himself with.

He waved to her as she lift, a smile on his face. It slowly slipped from his face as he turned only to have Michael standing at the door with his arms folded and a knowing look on his face. “Sherlock, you know your mother will have words about that.”

“Well, then don’t tell her. It’s rather simple Michael. Besides you’re also curious about the whereabouts of Molly.”

“That may be, Holmes but I won’t be the one who has to try to pry it from her. I’ve seen enough of women to know when one will guard themselves from any more harm and that is what you’re planning to spending the rest of your night and the days you’re supposed to be out of town for with. I care about Molly as much as you do…maybe a little less but you’re about to do something rather stupid when it comes to the road your parents want to direct you on.”

“You know that in itself is wrong. I don’t need direction on how to live my life, Michael.” He huffed, before glancing back up the man who he had known since he was a boy. He was for all intents and purposes his bodyguard and messenger for all things. At times he also served as a shoulder to cry on, or at least he did when Sherlock knew less about concealing himself from emotions and more on immersing himself in them when he was a child. “I just want something different than what they think is best for me. Carroll is not a part of it. She’s bleak and frilly, she won’t fit with me.”

“Don’t you mean you won’t let her?”

“No, I mean she isn’t equipped for me. You’ve seen what I’ve moved her to do, she wouldn’t last even if I wanted her to.”

“Because you find Molly Hooper interesting.”

“No…” He growled, his hands fisting in his hair shortly.

“It’s true, Sherlock.”

“What if it is? Is there something wrong with that?”

“Not in the slightest. There is a difference between wanting what is good for you and what your heart desires. Desires have a damaging effect.”

“Talking from experience there, Michael.” Sherlock smirked.

“Sherlock…” He gritted out, he was playing a game he didn’t want to start.

“I know who you are Michael and what you had to give up. Don’t make me do the same. I’m not saying that it’s anything concrete but I don’t need you pushing me into something you know isn’t going to end well. I’ll be unhappy and even if satisfies my parents, I won’t like it. I already don’t like it.”

“You think Molly is the answer.”

“I never said it.”

“Your actions imply it. Be careful, Sherlock.” It was the last thing he said to Sherlock before pushing him inside and pretending to not see how determined the boy got when he rushed down the stairwell that led to where he would find Molly Hooper.

It was a bit of a struggle for him to not do anything when he absolutely wished to do a few things, most of them centered around either leaving her bedroom to track down who he needed to hit again and again with his fists for hurting Molly while the other was slightly more distressing to him – he wanted to walk over to her, grab her by the face and find a way to make sure she was fine because she wasn’t saying anything to him.

In fact she had rushed passed him when she finally showed up after her disappearing act. This was where he found her trying to fix the problem. He had half a mind to just leave it but he couldn’t. It was just like the time he stood watching her late one night after he uncovered her new status. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t just back track and walk away.

She was doing something to him and he didn’t entirely mind. It didn’t mean he wasn’t conflicted entirely. He just wasn’t sure what to do, and then he did know.

He walked from the doorway and over to the bed where she sat in a pair of pajama pants, a white tank top that had seen better days. She looked almost normal in his eyes if it wasn’t for the blank expression her face that has been lingering on her face ever since she stumbled into the house. He loomed over her as he took in the injuries that were easier to see. She had her first aid kit down from the top of her closet but did nothing in terms of cleaning herself up from lines of marking that marred her face. He got the indication that she was getting ready to one he came into the room.

She just stopped for some reason.

“Molly.” He called her name. Her eyes flicked to focus on his face, tilting her head back a bit. Her hair had gone from the not completely altogether plait it had been when he say her moments ago to a pile of pins on top of her head into a slight constructed bun. “Where have you been?”

Her eyes closed as she focused back on her hands. She didn’t say anything to him as she fiddled with them. He sighed, deciding to help her a bit with the messy state of her. He reached into the kit and grabbed a few cloths with alcohol on them and antiseptic to add to one of the dry rags once he cleaned off the bits that looked rougher on her. He almost commented on the fact that this was her job, not his but he wanted to do this.

She made no comments as he grabbed her face under chin, gripping slightly in order to keep her still as he pressed the cool pad of alcohol drenched cloth on the side of her jaw first where there was a medium sized cut. She didn’t budge as he cleansed and moved down to her mouth. It was as he went to press it against her busted lip did she make of noise of agony and protest. Her hands reached up to grip his hand and move it away; stopping him but he persisted on, and wiped at it even when her eyes welled up. He was quick about it and placed a bit of soothing cream on her mouth where it was the worst. She had opened her eyes at some point and watched him as he fiddled with the items inside her kit, fishing for things that he couldn’t find or wasn’t sure where they were located.

In the end she looked slightly more her even with the lines that covered her face and the bruises that formed on her lips. “Tell me what happened, Molly. You were gone for days without a word to anyone. Then you come back looking like you felt into someone’s fist a couple of times. How am I supposed to do anything if you insist on staying silent about everything?”

“I never said I wanted anything from you…Sherlock.” She told him, pulling herself up off the bed. It was then that he realized that she might have been more harmed than he originally saw. He went to reach for her when she walked under his arm and over to her mirror to sit down. She looked at her reflection for a moment before eyeing her things on the table. “I had to get away for a little bit because of things that didn’t involve you or I guess they did but you shouldn’t worry about me.”

“And if I choose to?”

“It’s fine. I just rather you wouldn’t. I’m not worth that.”

“If I say you are to me, what then?”

“I’d say you didn’t know everything you think you know about me. That would have to be factored in to the idea that I am worth it to you, if you truly think so.”

He heard her breathe in quietly, eyes raised to look at him through the mirror as he stood behind the chair she was sitting in.

“Then tell me.”

“About what?”

“Anything, everything you want to tell me.”

“That’s the thing…” She paused, turning around slightly so that they were facing each other. “I don’t know if I want you to know everything, especially what’s happened in the past few days. I think you’d probably find a reason to hate yourself for every little thing that I tell you because it’s because of you that it’s happened.” The tears that had started to well when he was cleaning up her face, came surging forward.

Before he could open his mouth to ask, Molly continued swallowing a large lump in her throat in the process. “It isn’t just your family that feel that I am little in comparison to you and all these things that you have. So, I don’t think you should try to protect me because though it would be nice, it wouldn’t help matter much at all. Wherever I go, people are going to try to take jabs at me because they see something in the space between me and you. It would do you good to remember that next time you decide to have a friend like….never mind.” She went to turn back around when Sherlock moved forward.

“Molly.” Sherlock started, he grasped her face in his hands as he was once again leaning down to her. “If she had someone hurt you intentionally because you are with me in the house, I need to know so that I can do what I can to make sure you’re safe. Call it whatever you like, but I’m protecting you because it’s what I want to do and I don’t wish to see any more harm come to you.”

Molly ignored the sense of security that befell her when his warm hands held her face in that way, swallowing down another sob as she muttered. “Do what you must.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I finally updated again. I hope you like the new chapter. Let me know what you think, please. <3 day

**PART EIGHT**

Molly had come to expect there to be questions about her whereabouts in the last couple days. In fact she had hoped to possibly avoid them even a little from all of the people who were not Sherlock Holmes. She could never expect him to just forget the fact that she had trailed on into his home while he was in the middle of an engagement with someone (she didn’t really know at all not that she was really concerned about that part of the equation) but, covered in blood and dirt and only god knows what else she had tracked into that house. The part of her that had just been grateful to find herself in the living quarters that she had come to accept as her own during her time here with the Hudsons’ and Sherlock as well, had almost wanted to grab a bucket and scrub all of the surfaces that she had probably ruined with her mess but the other part of her simply hadn’t cared at the time.

Now that she had been left for an entire day on her own with tiny moments of doting from Martha who wanted to be sure that she was truly alright. She even brought her food into her room even though it was common for her to go into the kitchen area and eat with at the table. Since she had returned she had begun to slink into her space and stay there trying to ignore what would greet her on the other side of the door or really what would greet her when she went upstairs and would be faced with many different obstacles in the form of other people who actually resided in this estate who probably found her scene to be intrusive and vile.

Again, for the moment she did not care but tomorrow when she wasn’t huddled over a lamp shade writing a few papers for the classes that she had went to – and the ones she had to miss because of the situation she had found herself in, she would return to her smiling ways and give answers to the ones she could muster up the courage to confide in. She owed them something. She had made them worry, hadn’t she?

It had been a long time since anyone had longed to worry about her.

That wasn’t entirely true. Her father was the only one she could say still cared about her. Only it seemed she had been wrong when it came to him being the only one. The way Sherlock had looked at her last night had given her more than enough ammunition to back up the claim that he was another and Martha, Maximus and Lilith too. They had all greeted her with cries of joy at her reappearance and though she had been relatively quiet during their short moments before she fled to her room for solace. She appreciated it more than she said.

She joined the Hudsons the day after her one day of silence for breakfast as if nothing had changed. The only proof that it had was the bandages that covered her wounds and the hesitancy in her gait as she stepped into the room. They stopped what they were doing and looked upon on her. Martha beamed at her, as she always did and Lilith moved towards her, taking her hand and pulling her towards the table so that they could eat.

No one said anything about her state though. They just bantered as they usually did and rushed to finish before the children set off to finish getting dressed and setting off for the car where Michael would take them to school. Martha stayed with Molly as she ate the toast and jam, and the extra eggs that had been piled onto her plate once she had finished over half of them within minutes of sitting down.

She vaguely remembered telling Max and Lilith to have fun at school but other than that her quiet demeanor stayed that way. Up until the moment when Martha began to clean up the kid’s plates and the dishes they had used. The warmness of the older woman’s voice struck a beat in Molly’s heart as she continued to eat the meal that was set before her. “You look better than you were when you came back. I think you might have worried us more initially but you look okay. Do you feel okay, dear? I know you are probably tired of hearing me ask but I do care about you. Sherlock would join me and the kids when we went to look for you for those days when he could. When he wasn’t held back due to these occasions when he was expected to be the in the company of Carroll. You never asked about her – even when she was in the dining room the first time you were expected to work the dinner for the family. She is a peculiar young woman.

This is beside the point. He has abhorred every second that he has had to spend with her, because it meant he couldn’t find you and then suddenly you were back and you were in less than pristine shape I think it did something to him. You’re important to him.”

“Why…” Molly started, placing her fork down on the napkin that sat adjacent to her plate. She sat there as Martha ran the water for the dishes staring at her hands. “Why does he care so much about me? He doesn’t know me. None of you do.” She stopped for a moment.

Martha watched her from her position by the counter. There was something about the way the young girl seemed to fall apart in front of her that made the older woman feel like it was okay that she told her what she honestly felt about her as a person. She had been nothing but hardworking and kind to her in the weeks that she had been living with her. It was time that someone showed her how much she truly mattered. She mattered a whole lot.

She had heard it in her children’s voices as they wondered softly if she would ever come back. Hoping that they would get to spend more time with the med student who had caught the eye of their in some ways older brother – Sherlock. She had never once told them a lie about the fate of  Molly, for she didn’t know what to make of her disappearance herself but now as she watched her try to figure out why people who were seemingly much better off than herself was so appreciative of her presence, why did they care so much about her. It had made the girl weep openly with confusion and anger.

Martha had seen this before with someone else, except this was not the same.

The young boy who she used to take care of was shouting another question. He wasn’t asking, “Why do any of you care about me? It’s stupid.” These were the words Molly was sobbing now as she swayed in her seat and pulled at her hair. This felt different and that’s why Martha put the dish towel down, turning back for a brief moment to turn off the tap before moving across the table to hold the young girl in her arms and whisper soothing words that could only come from someone who had experienced much in life as she had.

“We see something great in you. Sometime blossoming like a flower in bloom in the spring. You are delicate but strong, like a fox hiding away in a hole during the winter. You are kind, something that we only see in our little cavern in this place and we enjoy every little moment we have to share with you no matter if we have to deal with the less pleasant people who we serve and have served for years now. You don’t dim in showing how brightly you can shine and that is why we won’t ever stop caring for you Molly. Better things will come your way, you just have to wade out the storm for a little while, trust me dear.”

Molly sniffled in her arms but she felt better hearing words of comfort from someone who she was rather fond of. It made her want to smile a little bit.

When she had gain her footing again, she patted Martha’s hand and whispered, “Thank you.”

They stayed still for another few minutes before breaking apart and then Molly wiped up her face, and ate the last of her eggs which had gone cold now while Martha went back to the dishes. A small light shines in the room as the two shared the space. It made Molly happier to know that there wasn’t a huge strain between her and the woman who she had come to think of as family.

She let out a shaky breath as she handed her dishes and then went back to her room for a moment to make sure her eyes weren’t too swollen or red for her to venture out into the main part of the house where she would bound to bump into someone and she did though it was not the person she was trying to avoid. It was someone she hadn’t really spoken to in a long time.

Michael.

* * *

Michael was someone she owed a lot to in all reality. Though a part of her knew that he would down play it as something that was a part of his own job. The Holmes’ had sent him to go speak with her about checking out Sherlock after each of his bouts in the ring. She only had accepted their gracious offer. Things were different now.

Michael wasn’t over her anymore – nor was he ever really her boss. He had always kept his distance from her unless he felt like sharing something that could aid her in her own work. Things had most definitely changed. They hadn’t properly spoken in such a long time. The last proper conversation they had was when he mentioned that her services were no longer needed for Sherlock. Then all of a sudden they were in closer quarters with each other.

Now, they were here standing side by side walking towards the garden behind the house.

“I just wanted to warn you about things that will come soon. I don’t know when exactly but all I know is that Sherlock will be unprepared and I believe you will be also. He finds you calming in some retrospects. I think that might have been a reason why he sought for you to come live with him.”

“I’m not exactly living with him, though am I?” Molly told him upon hearing what he was truly saying. It wasn’t just a warning. She knew what Michael’s job was as Sherlock’s bodyguard. He had ties to the Holmes that dated way back before Molly even came about as anything. She understood him perfectly.

“No. I suppose not. Nor am I, really. I don’t think either of us can pretend to know what goes on in his head but I do know this he wishes to slip from the path that his parent’s wish for him to go along with. I can’t say I condone either parts of this – his rebellion or the plans they have for him. I don’t know those plans let me tell you that firstly. But, what I do know is that he has his eyes on you for some reason. People are going to come after you, it’s obvious that some have already have.”

Molly only nodded along to his observation. She trusted Michael but she didn’t want to get into this. The morning had already been so awfully draining. She did appreciate what he had decided to do by giving her this talk even if he wasn’t being entirely clear about some times.

“I appreciate your decision to not shut me out so much anymore, Michael. It relieves me.” She hadn’t realized it until then but confessing that was something she had fully come to grips with being an issue she was struggling with.

“Good. I need you to understand something though, if they ask you to leave it is in your best interest to take whatever offer they hand you and run.”

“Are you speaking from experiencing, Michael?” They had stopped walking and had moved on past the garden. They were much further away from the house. Molly didn’t think this was a coincidence. She gave him a soft smile as he peered down her.

One of his large hands went to slide across her shoulder while the other brushed through his hair. He bent his head down and begun talking to her lowly. “Yes. Has Sherlock told you something?”

“Sherlock and I haven’t really discussed anything.”

“That’s not true.”

The fact of the matter was that it was the truth. “He came to see me but there wasn’t really any discussion about anything important. I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about anything that has happened. Nor do I think I am really. What’s the secret you’re hiding?”

“Who says I have a secret?” He pulled his head back a little but kept his hold on her shoulder, keeping Molly there beside him.

She just gave him a look and Michael chuckled. “You do have an eye on you. I see now.” This confused her more but she didn’t ask anything as he continued, whispering conspiratorially to her as they began walking again. “Her name was Madilyn…”

* * *

Michael had gotten a call sometime after he told Molly the story of his one true love. He explained to her a lot of things that he never could say to someone like Sherlock and it was with this information that she felt she understood Michael a bit more. They weren’t chummy or anything but they had grown a mile in terms of need to know kind of information. She promised not to tell anyone of his past, not that the Holmes’ didn’t already know about his. It was just easier to try to appease him.

After he had rushed back to the house having gotten the call about coming back for something, Molly had ventured back to the garden with many thoughts in her mind. She hadn’t been here in quite a while. The last time Sherlock found her crying and had nearly made a fool of her in some ways. She diverted her thoughts from that last time. She had felt something almost warm then, now as she was alone and the day was coming to an end she knew she would need to go back inside and possibly help with the preparations for the dinner even if there were only the family to serve tonight. She felt someone step into the garden but she didn’t turn to see who it was. She had a suspicion but she could have been wrong. Something about this place made it feel okay to admit things and so she was talking before whomever it was could speak.

“I lied.” She started. “It wasn’t your lady friend who had caused problems with me. Or at least I don’t think it was.”

Molly sighed, almost wanting to turn around to make sure she hadn’t made a mistake. Only for it to become clear that she indeed had as the person begun talking. “Of course, Miss Hooper you are wrong. You are often mistaken in your misguided assumptions about people and things around you. There are other people who are watching you, others who find you to be a problem in not only Sherlock’s life though he can’t possibly see it. He is blind and so are you.”

She stumbled to her feet, turning around quickly just in time to come face to face to a man who she had known upon meeting two years ago found her to be uninteresting and out of place. More so now than ever before. He bent down to her eye level as he stood uncomfortably close to her and whispered. “You’re the problem and the sooner he realizes that the sooner everything will fall into place.”

“For him or for you? I won’t pretend to understand your motives behind every little string you seem to be pulling behind the scenes for your brother in order to guide him along the path that you probably had the chance to take for some years’ time only to take the coward’s way out. Or perhaps I’m just making another assumption that is clearly misguiding by things I couldn’t possibly understand. Either way, I will not let you push me into running away from this because this is a wonderful opportunity for me, Mycroft.”

“To do what, Miss Hooper? Find love, excel in your pursuits of education or simply feel like you finally belong somewhere? All three I suspect though the first might have never been on your radar, I’m afraid.” He smiled.

Molly swallowed. This must be what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the less eloquent observations that Sherlock has done before. When Michael and she were talking earlier, he mentioned that the younger Holmes brother could be cruel but that his older brother could be even more so. She was witnessing that first hand and it would be idiotic of her to lie and say that it didn’t make her cringe even a little.

“You can say what you want about me but I honestly don’t care.”

Mycroft opened his mouth to say something, his eyes zoning in on the slight tremble in Molly’s voice as she spoke to him, and the watery rim that had begun to surface in her eyes when the other brother’s voice broke through. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint form where exactly. All she knew was there was a small moment of relief that washed through her. She did not take her eyes off the man who was standing in front of her though.

“It is best not to lie to Mycroft. He tends to already know how you really feel and what you really mean before you do. Also, he jumps on unsuspecting people all the time. A friend of mine, can vouch for this. He likes to scare people. He thinks he’s being a good brother. He knows you’re not going to run away even though you’re afraid of him.”

“I’m not -.” She started again when she felt the coolness of Sherlock’s palm press against her wrist.

“Yes. You are.” He muttered as he settled behind her.

Molly drew in a deep breath, feeling a little dizzy at the close proximity of the both of them. She hadn’t realized it yet but Sherlock’s fingers were rubbing up and down her wrist in small slow strokes. He was trying to calm her down. He had already seen how distressed she was.

“Back away, brother.” Sherlock muttered.

“What would Mummy say if she saw you right now, Sherlock?”

“What would she say to you? You’re being less than honorable.”

“Do you really want to have this conversation right now?” Molly seemed to gain some composure from the lack of understanding of what this whole thing was turning into. She began talking rather quickly, “Okay, I think I need to go back inside before one of you starts fighting the other and I get hit. I think I’ve taken enough of those lately. See you inside.” She mumbled extracting Sherlock’s hand from around her wrist and slipping from the closeness that both of them were giving. Sherlock was kind enough to move back and give her room to move on without any arguments.

He stood there staring at his older brother after Molly had left their sights. “What are you doing back here anyways, Mycroft?”

“I had interests that needed to be addressed head on. Don’t worry I will be leaving, I won’t even stay for dinner.”

“That might upset Mummy.”

“She doesn’t even know I’ve stopped by.”

“She will shortly.”

Sherlock left Mycroft standing there, he smirked at the idea of the deep frown on his brother’s face as he tried to catch Molly before she went to change for dinner.

He was elated to find that she had waited for him just before entering the lower chambers where the Hudsons were busy getting things ready. Maximus was tying his tie while Lilith was sitting watching him amused before spotting Sherlock moving to talk with Molly. “Thanks.” Was the first thing that Molly told him when she felt his presence beside her. She was helping Mrs. Hudson plate the remaining of the dishes.

Sherlock stayed quiet just observing the two of them work together. It was fluid and nearly homey. It looked nice…that was the first word he could think. Perhaps, not the first but the most adequate one for the occasion. “Don’t just stand there, Sherlock. If you have something to say to Molly just say it. If not then head up to prepare yourself.”

He had nearly forgotten how intense Martha got when she trying to get things ready for the dinner. “Right. We can talk later, Molly.” He called over his shoulder as he straightened up and rushed up the steps.

Molly giggled at Martha who only shook her head as Sherlock’s antics. “You would think he has never had to talk to a girl before.”

“You mean I’m not the first?” Molly was joking and that made everyone break out into giggles that stopped soon when Michael came down in a nice dress shirt and bounded over to Molly with a frown. Any of the easiness that had settled earlier in the day seemed to have disappeared from him as he pulled her out of earshot.

“What’s going on now?” Molly sounded annoyed and she felt it was okay to be. She had finally had a moment of near giddiness and now it seemed it was being doused out for something more pressing. “You have a visitor in the foyer.”

“Who? Who could be coming to see me?”

“Your mother. She said it’s urgent. There is something to going on at the hospital.”

Molly didn’t really need to hear any more of it for she rushed up the stairs and ignored any of the looks that were sent her way as she headed to speak with her mother. The only thing that was running through her mind was of her father.

Was he okay?

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **edit [2.26.2014]: fixed all previous text issues.**
> 
> **Hope you enjoy the chapter, if you haven't already. Let me know what you think? <3 day**

**PART NINE**

It felt like her heart stopped when coming face to face with her mother within the foyer of the mansion that belonged to the Holmes. It just made it seem real, that she hadn’t ever been able to immerse herself fully in this world when she had family that had never stepped foot inside this place. Molly never imagined that anyone from her life outside of it would ever need to come here. That didn’t mean it bothered her all that much however.

When Michael had come down dressed for dinner, he didn’t eat with the family but he stood close enough that he too needed to look presentable Molly hadn’t known what to think when he had pulled her aside. It was never an issue that he would do that. For him, it seemed greatly out of character. Then again they hadn’t shared with each other as much as they had earlier on in the day as they had then. It didn’t mean she expected him to go out of his way to come to her or that they would continue to talk to each other but it had been a bit of a shock to have him do it just after Sherlock had left her presence. She imagined they must have crossed paths on the way down.

It only made her happiness grow bleaker as he stood within arm’s reach when she came to a halt in the foyer staring at her mom. She was dressed in a more relaxed manner than she had ever seen her. She was out of a pants suit and her hair was let down out of the pins and barrettes it was usually constructed with. Her face which was soft tightened at the sight of her daughter. Molly didn’t say anything at first, looking at her mother. She looked perfectly normal like this and it unnerved her but she didn’t think it was important to talk to her about it at the moment. There was a reason why she had come.

Something had happened to her dad.

“What’s happened to you, Molly? Are they hurting you…?” Molly heard Michael scoff behind her but she knew he had a reason to have that reaction. Beyond the head of the Holmes family have a strong dislike for her they were more than pleasant when it came to how they treated her. It helped that she didn’t really venture into the other parts of the house where they might be.

“No.” Molly whispered, “I’m…what’s happened to dad?”

The question of her husband seemed to sober her from the bad thoughts that she was thinking while seeing the cuts and scrapes that marred her daughter’s face. They might not get on as well as most would expect from a mother and daughter, but she did care about Molly. She had to. “Yes, well he’s not doing well. He’ll tell you that he’s fine of course but I’ve spoken with the doctors and he is slipping to dangerous territory. It could happen soon darling, you do understand don’t you?”

Molly took a few feet forward so that she was standing in front of her mother, shying away from the prying eyes of Michael or any of the other people who could see her. She reached out for her mother’s hand, her eyes wet from the tears that started to fall from her eyes. “Let’s go.” She said urgently and her mum for one of the first times in her life embraced Molly as she turned her away from the foyer and they began to exit the large house.

They couldn’t have left quickly enough for Sherlock was there, having come down to ask for some assistance with his neck tie. He hated the things but his mother was adamant that tonight be a coat and tie affair. “Was that Molly leaving?” He asked hurriedly, he turned slightly to the door which had closed short a few seconds shy of his descent down the stairs.

Michael thought about not saying anything at first but he knew that Sherlock would notice her disappearance at dinner. She and Maximus were supposed to be serving the table. “Yes, it was. When will you learn to do this on your own, Sherlock?” He grumbled as he had Sherlock turn towards him and he made quick work of tying the knot perfectly.

“It isn’t important. I won’t wear them.” He responded as he went to button his jacket. “Where’s she gone and with whom, I heard voices?”

“Her mother.” He sighed, the look of irritation that had slid onto the younger Holmes’ face shifted onto a mix of anger and confusion. “Her mother…what’s going on Michael?” He questioned eagerly, just as his mum came down and dashed over to him as quickly as she could. “Now don’t you look dashing? I’m sure your date will love it.”

Michael tried to hide a smile at the sight of Sherlock’s quickly apparent annoyance at the mention of his dinner date. He would lie through his teeth about how thrilled he was to be in Miss Carroll presence again. His mother was not fooled by it but she tried to seem appeased that he tried to appear jovial about the young woman. They certainly weren’t looking to inviting a certain worker who lived with the Hudson’s to dine as his companion.

Mrs. Holmes kissed Sherlock’s cheek before dashing inside towards the sitting room where she would wait for their other guests. “Don’t be smug, Michael. I have a favor to ask you.” He trailed off looking away from the look of amusement on his bodyguard’s face.

“I’m not even going to deny you this time because I too feel something close to worry for Miss Hooper. I will try to find out as much as I can while you entertain your missus.”

“She’s not my missus!” He shouted indignantly before sauntering after his mother.

Michael enjoyed to toy with Sherlock even if he had already warned him of finding an interest in Molly Hooper. It wouldn’t aid his parent’s conquest to make him the new head of the company in a year or two. It certainly wouldn’t help with the next part of their plan that though they hadn’t shared with the equally observant charge of his or Michael himself. It was just the way of the regal ones that gave him a large hint as to what would be happening next and it would only lead to more heartache if he continued to pay mind to both Molly and Sherlock and how they danced around each other in ways that he knew quite well.

He drew out his phone while it was quiet in the front of the house. There would soon be a lot of racket where he stood. A lot of eager parties would soon be flooding in. It was time he called in a favor from an old friend. He was sure she would be delighted to be of some use now.

 

-x-

Molly watched her mother closely as she rode in the passenger seat of Lorraine – it’s what her father called his car. It had been a long time since she sat in a car that her mother was driving. Even more significant was it a vehicle that she had claimed to hate for several different reasons. Molly had never took her words to heart. Not when it came to her father. If there was one thing she knew about her parents it was that they loved each other, even now.

They might not have agreed on everything but they still adored each other. This was one of the reasons why she was entirely surprised to see that she still sat with her dad when he was on his death bed. She had heard stories of women who only came in when there was some sort of scare but her mother had never been the kind to leave when things got dire. It mattered little that they had a very estrange relationship, most that involved her hopelessness for Molly every amounting to anything greater than the women she called friend’s own spawns had.

Molly knew it shouldn’t have mattered either, but she did try to appease her mother. It had to be some kind of rule that most children wanted to be loved and appreciated by their parents especially their mother – the one person who had brought them into the world and loved them unconditionally. “Did he ask for me?” She decided to ask as they slipped into a long line of traffic.

The streets were busy at this time of night. She expected them to arrive in about half an hour if they were lucky. Molly was met with silence at first. It wasn’t that her mother was cold towards her, it was the opposite actually. In this instance she was attempting to shield her from something. “He didn’t, did he?” Her throat was thick with the emotions that she rarely tried to show when in her mother’s presence.

“I’m sorry, but no.” Molly had turned towards her as they sat waiting to move forward in the throngs of traffic. Molly looked down at her hands. “Why would you come get me if he doesn’t want to see me?”

“Molly, you and I both know that that is as far from the truth as anything. You are his favorite as your brother is mine. He is weak and he doesn’t wish for any of us to see him like this especially you. His heart his heavy with the idea that one day one of us will come in and he’ll have already passed on. Of course, he hasn’t said that exactly but it’s clear to me that it pains him to be suffering this way. For making us all suffer because of his illness.” Molly didn’t take her eyes off of her mother. Gone was the chill of her contempt, instead lay a suffering that Molly knew was burrowed underneath of the surface of her mum’s façade. “I don’t wish for him to leave us.” She admitted making to look over at her daughter with the shining of tears that echoed the only other person in the car.

In this moment they had come to an understanding. They were both suffering heavily. Molly sniffled, “Me neither.”

The silence resurfaced for a little while as they drove on towards the hospital. Both women batted away tears that seemed to be trying to spill over as the minutes passed. Molly hated to think what would happen on the day when her mother’s words rang true. It seemed to be coming soon, she grew increasingly worried for her mum. For a few minutes she sat in the car with her as she came to a stop in a reserved parking space for visitors of patients and she finally asked her a question that she hadn’t been sure of when it would be better to ask.

“Mummy, are you okay?” Her voice broke at the first word but she let the rest of it come out as fluid as she could.

Her mother’s hair wished to the side as she turned to Molly. She could see so much of the little girl who she had tried to teach so much at a young age. She hadn’t called her Mummy in years and it left an ache in her chest to know that it was because she was in pain that she felt at ease enough to feel okay with returning to her child like ways. She didn’t know if she could ever tell her how much she wished things had turned out different. How much she wished that she hadn’t tried so hard to push her in a direction that seemed good at the time but she had always known that Molly wasn’t like all the other girls. She was different and perhaps that hadn’t been so wrong, but she didn’t want her to suffer in that way. To be picked on and judged for her love of sciences and morbid things. The way she chose the most unflattering garments to wear. The way she decided to carry herself in general.

She looked at her now and realized how much of a failure she had been towards her as a mother. She had become her biggest critic and her worst supporter. She didn’t know how to answer her daughter in this moment. The truth was that she wasn’t okay with anything but she didn’t want to cause more havoc within Molly, by the lines that marred her daughter’s face and the places she imagined that were covered up by her clothes she knew that not all was well with Molly either.

She settle for letting out a long sigh and reaching out to touch Molly’s cheek. The softness was still there but the weariness was present in the one person she had failed and she hated herself for it, but she sucked it up like she should have all those years ago while smiling and telling her as much of the truth as she could. “No. I haven’t been okay in a long time.” She stopped before the rest of her thoughts could leave her lips. It was not the time for her to confess all the ways she had harmed Molly but she had wanted to tell her ( _I am sorry for how much I’ve burdened you. You are stronger than I am and for that I am happy.)_ “We should go inside. I think he needs you right now.”

Molly nearly made her mum stop her movements of moving away from her and getting out of the car. She could tell there was something else that she had wanted to tell her but it was not the time for it. Not in her mother’s mind. Molly wanted to know what it was. She yearned to know what it was that her mother finally wanted to come open about. She had never seen her so affected by something in her life and it seemed she was finally coming to grips with it, and thinking things through. For this Molly was grateful but she was also worried. What was it that her mother needed now? Would she be able to help her with it? She wanted to, she knew as she stepped out of the car and met her at the trunk.

Molly surprised her mum as she took her hand and walked with her in short steps towards the entrance. When they got up to the floor where her father was being taken care of Molly withdrew her hand from her mother’s. It wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy the small ounce of connection that it gave the two of them for a little while. She was eager to see her father even if she ended up getting sad about it. It was one of the greatest comfort to see someone when they were unwell.

There was so much that wasn’t said between Molly and her mother but she knew that one of the reasons that she went to find her was because she knew that she could comfort her dad through his suffering and in some light it would ease Molly’s ache about her father’s condition. Not by much granted but just enough that it she would feel some solace.

When she stepped into the room Molly stopped short. It hadn’t been a lie that her dad was unwell, this was already a proven fact but she hadn’t exactly anticipated how much frailer he looked. Weak was the word her mother had chosen to use to describe his well-being but Molly had a slew of other words that would have served adequately enough. Many that seemed to course through her body as she hurried over to him and brushed his brow from the perspiration that was marring it. “Oh, Dad.” She whispered as she pressed her mouth against his forehead.

“Molly…” He sounded shocked to see her yet it felt lackluster in its deliverance. He could barely produce a whisper and that made Molly weep. “What are you doing here?” He questioned after a few moments.

“Mom came and got me from the Holmes’. She was worried.” Molly told him as he shuffled over slowly so that she could sit with him. He struggled to do just that while weeks ago it wouldn’t have been that hard. “I’m alright. She shouldn’t have done that. I’m sure you were needed there.”

Molly cut him off before he could continue to try to deflect her concern for him. He was not well. “They’ll manage just fine without me. You’re not okay, Dad. You can barely move, just let me stay with you for a little while.” She pleaded with him. He looked between his wife and Molly for a few minutes before he nodded slowly. “Yeah, alright. What happened to your face Molls?” It was that same concern that her mother had showed her upon seeing her that had her sighing. She didn’t exactly want to go into detail about this but knew that he would pester her about it.

She looked at her mum who moved to sit on the other side in a chair that had been sitting there for a little while. She didn’t look angry or annoyed, she looked conflicted as she gestured for her to talk. She too wanted to know what had happened to Molly.

“I got into an altercation with some peers of mine. I’m not trained to fight people so I got nicked a few times.”

“A few?” Her parents said at the same time.

Molly had to try to fight down a smile at the two of them. She had never seen the both of them on the same side when it came to her. It made her feel lighter than she imagined she was supposed to be right now. Her dad was dying and yet having this moment with the two of them did something to her that she couldn’t put into words. “Yes.” She said quietly. “I’m fine though.” It wasn’t an entire lie but she didn’t think it was the time to talk about this no matter how much she knew it probably would have made her feel better to discuss it with anyone, not just her parents.

“Are you sure? This happened while you were in the house with that Holmes boy.” Her mother mumbled causing her dad to focus his attention back on his daughter. He grasped at her arm and beckoned her closer so that he could talk to her quietly enough.

“Did it happen while you were in the Holmes’ house?” Her parents – her dad especially was highly protective of Molly. He had been the one to hug her when she had a bad day at school or in the park when he had been busy talking shop with one of the other parents that were around. He had always been the one to just be there for her and it was this reason alone that she trusted him. He had been her confidant.

Now, she visibly swallowed as she looked at him with the notion that soon enough she wouldn’t get to have him around to hold her and tell her how exceptional she was. “No.” She breathed, snuggling into his shoulder. “I wasn’t anywhere near the mansion or Sherlock. He was just as troubled as you when I came back and I was worse off. He threatened to do bodily harm to whoever did it.”

This was the first time Molly had ever processed the fact that that was what Sherlock had told her he would do. It had comforted her at the time but she had never talked about it with anyone before.

“I knew I liked him.” Her dad told her. Molly started giggling. Her mom smiled at the two of them before her phone started ringing, she apologized.

“I know I’m not supposed to have it on here but I was expecting a call from your brother. I’ll take it outside…” She shuffled out quickly and Molly turned back to her dad. “Has he been back here to see you?”

“Sometimes. He usually comes when he knows Mom will be here. I think between the two of you we have a difficult time deciding which one is comfortable around whom.”

“You mean you have favorites?”

“No!” He started to shout but he erupted in coughing. Molly rose up a bit off his shoulder to try to ease his suffering. “Take it easy.” She told him getting worried as she ran a hand up his back as he turned over to cough away from her.

“What I mean is.” He breathed, “We both love you and your brother very much. The thing about us is that we had to teach you about the world in different ways and while not every way made you love us completely, it didn’t mean that we never cared. Parents have a way of showing they care in different ways, your mom included. Same with me and your brother, she spend more time with him so he doesn’t know how to be around me. He probably doesn’t know how much I love him.” He paused for a moment and Molly waited for him to continue.

“Do you remember the song I said reminded me of your mom?”

Molly smiled wistfully at the memory of her dad crooning away to her one late summer night. “Of course.” She cleared her throat as she quietly sung to him the first few lines. “ _Something in the way she moves, attracts me like no other lover…_ ” he took his daughter’s hand as she lay back against him and sung the rest. “ _Something in the way in the way she woos me. I don’t want to leave her now, you know I believe and how_ ”.

Molly felt the roughness of his lips as they pressed against her and she cried a little. “I’m going to miss you so much.” She told him through the thickness in her throat.

“I’m not going anywhere, Molls.” Molly shook her head. “Don’t do that, Dad. You’re suffering and you can’t pretend with me.” In the same way Sherlock tries to hide his feelings about everything and shield her in the same manner. It was something she first saw in her dad and it hurt knowing that everyone felt like they had to protect her. “I can see you hurting and I want to help. I just don’t know how.”

He sighed. “I know you do. You always try to help everyone, even when you can’t.”

Molly tried to stop crying before it got too bad but somehow hearing her dad say in his own way that she wouldn’t be able to save him from dying broke something inside her again. She managed to hold it off for a little while longer before her dad told her that it was alright. “You can cry. I’d prefer you do it in front of me. No one seems to want to…it actually makes me feel a lot worse when you just hold it off for so long.”

“Oh Dad.” She sobbed as she turned into his shoulder and wept. Even when he was in pain he still sounded like the father she knew. At least he hadn’t ever lost himself as his health dwindled.

He held her as close as he could and for as long as he could before his arms started to give out on him.

Molly stayed for two more hours before the nurses came back in to give her father his meds and her mum decided that they should head out for the night. She didn’t immediately go back to the mansion though she thought about it briefly. Her mother took her to a small café that stayed open late and they shared a large bowl of chocolate covered almonds and hot chocolate on a bench outside.

It wasn’t too cold but they were both in warm coats. Molly’s had been an old one that her mum had apparently picked up while she had left for that phone call with her brother. It hadn’t been cold earlier when they left from the Holmes’ place, but it had gotten a bit chilly as the night came near.

The two women didn’t talk all the much, just taking little pieces of the tin that sat between them as they sipped their drinks. It was only broken when her mum posed a question to her that sounded so normal it almost made her forget the fact that they had been at arm’s length for so long. “How is school going?”

“Oh, um, it’s good. I’ve been…” She stopped short knowing that it probably wouldn’t help smooth anything if she started talking about dissections while they were chewing on nuts. This could turn into something nice. “I’ve done some nice assignments. I enjoy it a lot.”

“Have you made any friends?”

“No…” Molly turned away slightly to take her drink back into her hands and sipping it hurriedly.

“I’m sure you could. You’re nice enough.” There it was again. Molly steeled herself as she turned to her mother nearly decided to speak her mind about the way her mother talked to her about her but then she saw the look on her face. She looked so odd, it wasn’t the same look that she had seen her use when she was a child. She was trying to tell her something nice towards her but it might have come out clipped and phrased wrong. “I just mean you’re a nice girl Molly, there aren’t enough people like you in the world. I imagine that’s why the boy likes to have you around.”

“Why do you keep going back to Sherlock?” Molly mumbled as she took another three almonds in her hands and shifted them around.

“He’s different than the boys that I remember who paid any attention to you. There is something that makes me remember your father in him. He’s talked to you about me before. He’s told me that much. Do you care about Sherlock?”

“Well, yes. I suppose I do.” Molly said quietly.

“In what way Molly? I just don’t want to see you hurt if something ends up happening that collides with the opportunity that you have been giving. I may not agree with what you want in your life but I do truly want the best for you. You know that right?”

“It’s what every mother wants for their child.” She mumbled in reply. “I do understand that though.” Molly left out the part where it was the same thing that Sherlock’s own parents experienced when trying to shove a way of life in his face as if it could change his destination or plans for his life. That would be saying too much. She was still deciding how she felt about the fact that her mother was being so open with her now.

It was a good thing, she knew but it made her uneasy.

Molly decided to ask a question that kept slipping over her tongue and under it. She wasn’t sure how it would change anything but she needed to know the answer to it. “Can I trust you, Mummy?”

The way she sat there blinking at Molly, taking pause was something that should have given her the correct answer yet she waited. She didn’t get up and run off though she could have. She wanted to hear the words come from her mother’s lips. She wanted to see how sincere she could get in one day when it came to her.

She couldn’t say that everything was behind them but she felt like she needed to see if there wasn’t salvageable about whatever was left of their connection. They could always rebuild. This was their starting point. Her dad had a way with bringing the best out of people, it was something she had gotten from him she supposed.

“I want to say yes, but I know you want believe me. I’ll tell you this instead, if you find yourself wanting to come home I won’t turn you away. I think it’s time I showed you how much I can care for you and should you ever need something I will do my best to aid you in the best way I can. Is that good enough for you, Molly?”

Her gaze hadn’t wavered on her daughter nor did she give her any blank expressions that would tell her nothing but lies or that she had just been saying that to appease her. She had been honest in that moment and Molly couldn’t help but feel okay with what she was offering.

Molly nodded as she took one last pull of her cocoa. “Yes.”

-o-

For the next few days Molly spent time split between helping Mrs. Hudson prepare the meals, in the Holmes’ library though usually when not many people were lurking around and she would be noticed and at the hospital with her parents to spend more time with her dad. She saw Sherlock in brief increments which usually led to him being swept away by someone before he could make any inquiries about her well-being or her father’s for that matter. She had just accepted that right now both of their lives were pretty hectic and that they would eventually find time to spare a moment for each other soon enough. At least she thought so. She had no idea what went on in Sherlock’s head but Michael who had been so kind to take her to the hospital for the past couple days had divulged a few hints at to what was keeping him at bay. It had become clear that it wasn’t his fault really, he had been trying to get word to her through someone but he usually was turned in a completely different direction before he could manage a note or message of any kind.

Molly had just shrugged it off but found it nice that he was still very much aware of her and what she was on about. The next time they saw each other was in the library. Molly had been spending time there because she needed to look into some medical texts for a huge assignment that would decide which courses she would need to take next semester. Winter break was upon them and she couldn’t really slack for this reason and that.

Though she made no inquiries about whether she was allowed in there she remembered her first day in the mansion and the fact that Sherlock had been the one to show her where to look for the things she would need and she had went for it. No one seemed plussed by her time inside. No one was ever inside except Mr. Holmes one day when Molly was just about done reading over some material for one night. He had slipped in and nodded at her but he hadn’t say anything.

He had a surprised expression on his face that she was inside but he didn’t immediately tell her to go. That had been her decision a few minutes later. She told him, “You have a vast collection of medical jargon. It’s quite helpful, thank you.” She had thought about apologizing for using it but he hadn’t seemed bothered by her presence as he took to the far wall to get a book on the history of aristocracy. Molly thought that was an interesting choice but much like the head of this household she was mum on the subject.

She made sure to put all the books she had used away before leaving. She was courteous and it was something that she didn’t see changing just because she had the opportunity to slip through the cracks unseen. It was a gift but she would do what she must to make it easier for the people didn’t see it the way she did. She hadn’t gotten that idea from the older Holmes man however. If there was anyone in this house that reigned in the higher tier of the family that didn’t have a problem with her completely it was Sherlock’s father. She truly appreciated it.

When she crossed paths with his son Molly had been completely surrounded by books up on the second floor of the library. She had come to take her work up there in order to stay out of the way should there be company. There was a hidden door that led to the second floor of the house that she could slip out of if completely necessary. The occasion hadn’t arose yet. She had been making progress at a large chunk of the portion that focused on the human heart.

There were about four different books opened littering with information and diagrams of the organ. Her eyes took in each one as she jotted down notes that she found useful in one notebook while she roughly drew sections on notecards for later use.  She had been about to put most of the texts up when he reached her, she heard the voices first so she didn’t have much time to move nor could she bring herself to stop writing at the time.

Sherlock wasn’t alone. The young lady who had been attached to his side for some time with him was inspecting one of the sections on romantic literature. Molly tried not to judge but she wasn’t too surprised to see her looking through those works. Sherlock spoke with her shortly before turning to see Molly.

He quickly left Carroll’s side and slipped over to her. “Molly…” He started.

“Sherlock.” She said, not looking up as she began closing books, she finished the majority of what she had been trying to get to today. She didn’t really want to be here in the middle of whatever was going on between Sherlock and the woman. It was clear that he was trying to show her around and she had so much clutter around.

“Would you like some help?” He asked as he skirted to the side as Molly pushed back with a stack of volumes in her arms and began to take the steps down. She tried to mumble something back to him at the time but it was lost due to the stack that was in her mouth’s view.

She let out a sigh as she sat the books on a small table so that she could grab the ladder that she had moved closer so that she would be able to climb up to the section. She sat them near the middle of it before starting to climb. She had put three of the five books back where they went when she got a little unbalanced.

She tried to regain her footing, but it didn’t work out that way. Her hands fell short of the ladder or even a ledge of the bookcases and she began to fall. She expected it to hurt, she had been up at least fifteen feet but instead she had made it safely into someone’s arms. She blinked up at Sherlock as he mumbled, “Yes, you most definitely needed my help.”

“You have company…” She said as she let go of his neck. She hadn’t realized she had looped onto it when he grabbed her. They were pressed quite close. His hands were wrapped around her waist, tightly. She carefully pushed away from him and let out a little cough.

“Well, you looked like you needed more assistance than her right now.” Molly appreciated his effort but she knew a few things about the way things worked here, and if anyone had seen him doing this – holding her like that there would be hell to pay. Or a visit to the office on one of the higher floors.

Molly looked at him for a minute. “Thank you. The rest of them are on the lower shelves.” She told him before moving to go back up to finish it off. Sherlock didn’t let her go that easily though he could feel Carroll eyeing the two of them closely. He took half of the load and helped Molly put the rest up before taking to going back to his guest though the way he kept trying to eye her, Molly knew that his mind was elsewhere and she wasn’t sure how to deal with that.

She had managed to keep her emotions in check when he was touching her but, now that she had a moment to herself she felt herself flush. She made quick work of grabbing the rest of her things, putting them in her bag before leaving the two alone. She didn’t get too far before she heard that irritating tone that Carroll took as she tried to be conspicuous as she started talking about her.

“It’s unusual for people to aid the help.”

Molly decided not to stay there much longer to hear whatever excuse Sherlock would say. The thing about him though he detested all of this, he would try to make good of the situation. It made her feel conflicted about how he felt around other people. He had to use this mask and even though they hadn’t really seen or talked to each other in days – nearly weeks now she knew that it would tear him up later.

Molly pretended that nothing happen later when she stayed to help serve dinner with Lilith this time instead of Maximus. Both of the children had tried to argue about who would get to have the “pleasure” but Molly made a little compromise. They would both get to help tonight. Lilith would get to help for the first half and Max would take the latter courses and dessert. It seemed easier that way.

She enjoyed how doting they tried to be when she was struggling with other issues. It meant a lot to her.

Sherlock had done something completely unbecoming of the character that was supposed to be in place at these dinners. When Molly had made it around the third time to refill drinks while Lilith took dishes away and replace the others with one of the larger courses, he stopped her by taking her wrist as she hovered nearby to refill Carrol and her parent’s glasses with the rich wine. “How is your father doing, Miss Hooper?”

Molly stopped for a minute and so had everyone else. She looked to Lilith, as she panicked. She wasn’t supposed to talk to them at dinner. Not really ever if Mrs. Holmes had anything to say about it and it looked like she might if it wasn’t for Carroll’s mother who had smiled at her sweetly and told her “Go on, answer him.”

“He’s doing better. Thank you, sir.” She gave him a half smile as he withdrew his hand and Molly scurried off back into the side door. She had caught Michael’s eye from the other side of the room where he was stationed, he had broken his usual stoic expression for a full second. He gave her a half smile and a knowing look.

Molly didn’t know what to do really. She really wasn’t sure how to take any of it. It was possible no one would say anything about that but there was also a large time that she would be called up to see Mrs. Holmes who would have words about it.

In her opinion there was little she could do to remedy the situation. It wasn’t like she just dashed off without word. She had been prompted to reply and she did her best to make it short before moving away. However, just like before in the library she found herself almost wanting to stay in the space where he had touched her.

Her fingers brushed over her wrist where he had held her in place in the dining hall. It was only for a few minutes before Maximus called for her so they could take the rest of the food out. She managed to hide any feelings about it for the rest of the night and the rest of the dinner with off without incident.

There was eyes on her movements though, from the Holmes to their other guests. It had made her feel almost important to have so much attention on her. It had been Sherlock’s doing however. He was the one who decided that he would try to talk to her while she was supposed to be working and silent. She could admit that it was thrilling for a moment to feel so rattled, even though it could mean nothing at all in the end.

She ate with the Hudsons for a little while, her appetite was minimal but she enjoyed ever little morsel of food while in their presence. They were so happy and overjoyed with the night and so Molly felt just the same.

When they began to clean up, Molly decided to take a few moments outside. She didn’t want to go to the garden. The last time hadn’t been so nice really, she just needed a moment to sit alone and think by herself and she hoped she would manage it just fine.

She did for a little while, her thoughts weighed heavily of her father again. She hadn’t been entirely truthful when she had told Sherlock that was doing better. He had probably realized that too but she didn’t want to make a fuss at the table, nor did she expect anyone to attempt to inquire anymore of her or of her familial problems.

This was way she felt better laying her head in her hands and crying out into them. It was so quiet out that she didn’t really care much for making a scene. No one was around. Everyone was busy with other things and she needed this moment for herself. She stayed there for a while, weeping and trying to catch her breath. The latter rarely happening for some time as she just lost it for the first time since her mum had first come to her here earlier in the week.

It was when she had started to reign everything back in, her crying minimal and her sobs turned into silent whimpering that she felt the soft fabric of a coat being draped against her shoulder. She didn’t really want to know who it was, though the person sat next to her a few seconds later. She sniffled as she wiped her face. It took her a few more minutes to be able to talk and though the idea that this could be a repeat of the last time in the garden she spoke out anyways. “He’s going to be gone soon.”

“I know.” The quiet murmur came from the one who kept constantly popping back up when she least expected him to. Sherlock.

Molly let out a sigh. “You shouldn’t be here.” She told him as she spied a glance at him. He had given her his jacket and rolled up the sleeves on his shirt. The tie had been wearing earlier was missing and he looked as close to being done with the day than anyone else.

“I needed some fresh air.” He replied, looking forward despite the slight amused look on his face.

“I could go in.” She mumbled nearly getting to her feet on the steps when he reached out and pressed her shoulder down. “Stay.” He said, the sound coming from his voice was so strained and tortured. He was pleading with her.

She looked at him again and he was staring at her again. She didn’t know what to say to him. He looked so weary and tired, yet he wanted to sit here with her and chat? “You need sleep, doctor’s orders.”

“You’re not a doctor yet.” He breathed. His hand stayed poised over her shoulder though he had stopped pressing down on it. He sighed, “I know that though. I’ve been busy…” He trailed off.

“Get some sleep, Sherlock.” She told him again as he scooted over to her. He wasn’t being nearly as reluctant as he should be. She was the one trying to get out of this situation because she was unsure of what was going on, or what it meant. She stayed still as he withdrew his hand.

“Later.” He whispered. “I want to talk to you for a few minutes. I miss…” He paused as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to say it. “You. Yes, I miss having you around.” He told her.

Molly swallowed, fiddling with her hands.

“You have a companion, what would you need with me?”

“She bores me. It’s not real for me. My parents…you already know. I just, stay please Molly.” He said it again. Molly let out a sigh.

“Okay…” She nodded at him and they sat there for the most of the night talking. He complained most of the time but he grew increasingly excited whenever she mentioned her labs. It felt nice to be able to talk about all the things she wanted to talk about, she didn’t have to censor anything because the one thing Molly knew about Sherlock Holmes was that he understood and he loved hearing her talk about all those things. It made her smile a little as they sifted through this and that and in the end when it came time for her to depart from him she felt a little shaky.

She didn’t want to leave.

“Goodnight, Molly.” He told her when they stopped at the staircase that would take her down to her room. He looked chirper than when he first came to her again. Molly smiled at him, replying in kind before moving to head down for the night. She heard him call out to her as quietly as possible as to not wake the others, “We should do that again sometime.”

Molly tried not to laugh too hard. She didn’t know if he knew it but that was usual something someone would say to someone they wanted to see again, on a date. She shook her head but told him, “Yeah, okay.”

As if she could ever be allowed to date Sherlock Holmes. It was a funny thought though. It kept her truly happy as she fell asleep that night. It was a rare thing for Molly Hooper but she would have the memory when times got tough. They would, Molly was sure of that.


	10. Part Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not really going to say much here, just because I want you guys to go ahead and enjoy this very special chapter. You’ll see what I mean when you read it. I did just get over having a fever for a few days so I am more than happy to finally get this up – got sick on the day when I planned to work on it so that was not fun :) but I hope you find this enjoyable and please feel free to tell me what you think of what you read. Thanks.
> 
> much love,
> 
> day

**PART TEN**

_You can try to save me if you’re crazy_

_But I want to know if we go, where we’re going to_

_People try to find reasons why things aren’t perfect_

_Fight to deny every smile they’re deserving_

 

-x-

The Holmes’ home was rather large so it wasn’t too surprising for Molly when she had her time outside of classes (she was done with the first year), or without any duties inside the home helping with dinners, planning the feast for the next party which wasn’t for another few months (though she wasn’t made aware what it’s for specifically) – that she found several different hideaways on the land. She had decided since the last time she sought refuge in the garden it hadn’t turned out too well that that had to be axed off her list of places that she would like to hole herself in for a peace.

She needed some place more secluded for times like these. The day had come when she got the call from her mother via Michael who was the only one with a cellular who was willing to let her use one. She hadn’t really thought to ask Sherlock, nor did she think her mother would be so willing to give his phone a call. While their relationship had started to mend minimally since their honest talk when she last visited her to take her to her dad she didn’t see her being all that ready to try to talk to him especially when she was grieving so when Michael came and found her reading the next years’ requirement for her anatomy course where she’d be able to start looking at cadavers to possibly cut into she knew that all wasn’t well.

There had been something that she had seen on his face that had given it away before she heard her mum on the phone, barely audible telling her that he was gone. Then she was pushing the phone away and getting on her feet and stumbling out the back doors down the familiar path that took her past the garden in the weeds of the forest and further into an open space that wasn’t large enough to be a clearing but had enough space for her to just sit and take in a few deep breaths. She couldn’t bring herself to cry.

Molly had done plenty of that in the weeks since realizing just how badly her dad’s illness had gotten. She hadn’t even know what to say to her mother when she had come calling her to try to console her in her own way. There were a few things that she was grateful by surrounded by so many people who did care but knew enough about her to know when she needed her space. She indeed did get her space and that was wonderful and she did appreciate it, but a part of her the bit that wished that she was willing to accept comfort when she needed wished that she did things that were deemed reckless in her own eyes. She had plenty of opportunities to be reckless, but there was always this thing keeping her back from doing so.

Not now.

Without her dad there to smooth away the edges of what she deemed to be right and wrong she knew that she was more likely to do something stupid. She was sitting alone now and as she looked around at the trees and could visibly hear the birds from above singing their songs peering down at her like in a story book from her childhood she lay back on the ground and shut her eyes.

This was as reckless as she felt like being today.

She knew what the word meant but if having people worry about her again made her seem more like it then so be it. She rather lay her then have someone cooing at her and saying things that were used to make her feel better. Things that never worked. Especially not for someone who was supposed to be mourning the man who gave her life.

Again, she couldn’t bring herself to do it a first. She ended up staying there for a good solid six hours thinking about all the warmth that enveloped her when she had spent time with her dad before and after his diagnose. She had plenty of happy memories locked away of the time she shared with her dad. She sifted through those slowly, not once thinking about the fact that she never would be able to get another hug or smile or hear him call her his favorite pet name that he first began calling her when she was just beginning to walk.

He picked her up when her brother pushed her down, not bothering too much with him as he made sure Molly was okay. He always said he’d deal with him later with a smile on his face as she heard her brother run off. It was funny to think about how her brother must have thought that it would help her dad want to be around him more to push her around. It didn’t. It only made him more insistent on making her stronger – not with actions because she had never been physically strong but with her words and within the right set of circumstances a simple touch.

Molly hadn’t found many times where the power of her touch healed anyone let alone herself in the past couple months but she still hoped that one day it would surprise somebody and she’d find that purpose. She believed in her heart that her dad didn’t ever tell her anything if there isn’t some kind of meaning or lesson behind it. Some of her favorite moments were little sayings he would say to her when she was busy working on a paper, or reading a book. He’d just come by and say something and she would commit it to memory. The one that she thinks of now as she’s in this small haven far behind the world that she loves and hates some days simply says, “Darkness is only temporary, the light comes when you least expect.”

He could have read that in a book for all she knew but she found it comforting, especially lately, especially now.

When she felt ready, she opened her eyes and faced the stars in the sky and got to her feet. As she begun to walk back the way she came it started to rain. She didn’t run for cover, she kept going though she was sure to get sick from pneumonia if she didn’t hurry. She wasn’t worried for herself in that moment. She was smiling, she felt happy in the rain.

She thought about dancing through it for one millisecond only to shake her head and continuing on. It’d take at least fifteen minutes at her pace yet she kept on smiling. She looked up to the sky as she stopped a few paces and laughed. If anyone saw her they probably thought her mad, but for Molly she felt something that she didn’t think she’d ever feel as long as the pain kept tugging at her chest. The pain was there but it was barely there now.

She wondered if this is what her dad had wanted when he decided that this was his last day. She believed in a God but she also believed that when it was time for someone to leave the world that they made that decision if given the right circumstances. Not everything was planned but that was the beautiful of life. The best plans were the unplanned, even if it starts with a kick in the gut or the heart. Something good has to come of it, right?

It’s what she believes.

While she feel sad, she feels almost liberated by this loss. It was time for a new beginning.

It’s what she feels in her heart but then her heart sometimes doesn’t know what it wants immediately which is why when she makes it back to the house she doesn’t go inside. She delays her reentry again, and sits on the steps where she shared a painful discussion with Sherlock about a month ago about how she knew this day was coming. Her dad was dying.

Realization is a scary thing. She knows this.

Her palms come up to cover her mouth a she shuts her eyes another time and she wants to scream. With every little turn in her mood she hates this process even more. One second she feels nothing, the next she feels happy then she feels the pain again. Only it’s not pain exactly, it’s worse. Its anguish and anger for not being able to give a proper goodbye.

It’s what pains her more than anything. She doesn’t know what she would even say to him if she would have been there but she still thinks it would be easier than this swaying of emotions.

Not everyone handles it the same way.

She should have figured that out sooner, but she didn’t. It’s textbook.

She swallows taking a deep breath removing her hands as the door opens and she hears the annoyed voice of Sherlock Holmes as he moves over to her. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you. Michael wouldn’t even tell me. What good is he for? Ugh, why are you sitting in the rain?” He mumbled as he reached down and pulled her up to her feet.

She pauses a moment looking at him, his hair is starting to cling to his face just like his clothes. He doesn’t seem to be worried about it. She decides to answer him as much as possible though as she folds her arms in front of her. “I like being on my own. Michael is a good friend, that’s why. Don’t give him grief, Sherlock Holmes.” She paused again before looking back up at the sky. The stars were less visible now, it was just a dark sky with several clouds that could be seen only when lightning struck.

It struck twice before Sherlock pulled her attention back to him. “Hey, c’mon.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back inside. Molly trailed behind him reluctantly unsure what he was planning to do. He had completely bypassed the stairs that would take her to the Hudsons. Instead moving towards the stairs, she had enough sense to yank her arm back. “Are you an idiot? I can’t go up there. It’s off limits for people like me.”

“People like you?” He scoffed turning to face her. “You’re human, female and in need of a warm blanket and probably something warm to drink because you decided to drag your feet instead of running inside.”

Molly understood that he was pissed but this was a bit more than she was expecting if at all. “Sherlock, you don’t have to take care of me. I’m fine -.” He of course being on a roll in this version of himself that she only saw when he thought she was being destructive (i.e. when she had been away for a few days and came back bleeding and wouldn’t share with him what happened to her), interrupted her. “Your dad just died, Molly. I think it’s safe to say that it’s okay if you’re not fine.”

“I know that, Sherlock.” She sighed. She supposed she should be grateful that he was at least worried about her wellbeing.

“I went to the hospital a few days ago to see your dad.”

“You what?” She said quietly tilting her head up to look at him as he once again took her hand and began to pull her up the stairs. This time she let him guide her on up. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“Get where?”

Why did he continue to confuse her? She didn’t know but it also intrigued her. She didn’t get him half of the time they were together. No matter how limited that was. “Here.” He said as they got to the end of the hallway and he opened the door. It wasn’t to a bedroom though, it looked like an old fashion lift that had crank that had to be turned in order to get it to working.

“Wait…” She started but he had already closed the gate that she hadn’t even seen at first. “You know this could be seen as kidnapping if I hadn’t willingly followed you in this contraption.”

Sherlock smiled at her. “Relax,” They came to jerky halt a few seconds after Molly started giving him a wary eye. “It’s not that far underground and no one besides Michael knows about this place.”

“What is it exactly?” Sherlock made sure the brake was secure before he unlocked the gate and stepped through the gap that was between the door and the inside of the lift. He reached for her hand again and she took it as she hopped over the gap into his chest. She slipped from his grasp then, feeling that strange sensation that she often felt with him. She now had a clearer view of the space he had brought her down to.

It was familiar in a way. On the surface it was set up like an old boxing ring with chairs lining the outside of the ropes and a table that looked to have medical supplies cluttered around it. A locker hung on the wall behind the table in a corner. Sherlock didn’t say anything to Molly as he moved over to the locker and opened it up with a twist of his wrist. There was no lock on it. It opened easily enough for him.

Molly tried not to be too distracted by it as she looked at the other part of the room. There was a punching bag on the other side and another set of chairs. There was also another door and she turned to ask him about it when she was immediately rushed by his bare chest. She could have sworn she had flash of something from a few years ago.

She coughed, he was holding out something for her. Clothes. “I’m going to get warmed up, you can use the bathroom that’s right through that door you were admiring.” He threw her a wink.

She ignored the flush feeling as she took the clothes from him and walked over to the opposite side of the room from where he was heading and turned the door. It didn’t open right away but as Sherlock called, “You have to put your shoulder into it,” she did as told and slipped right in nearly falling from the momentum. She heard him chuckle but she ignored it as she shut the door and looked at the fabric that was in her hands. She placed them over the toilet before beginning to stretch. Sherlock had even given her a towel for drying off. She thanked him silently before going through the motions of drying off most of her hair and body, and changing quickly. She ended up plaiting her hair in a lose braid even though she had nothing to tie it with at the end. It’d end up unraveling but she was just happy to have it out of her face for the moment.

She then turned to look at her attire in the mirror. She could only see the top have but it was interesting to see that Sherlock either was lying about not having anyone else in his private training grounds or he had gotten her clothes some time in between his searching for her throughout the day. This all if it were rang true in her head gave her the idea that maybe he had planned to show this to her long before this day.

She still didn’t know why he wanted to bring her here exactly. They had a shared past of her picking up his broken face after a bout but it had been so long since then. Why would he decide to do it now? And why was he hiding it right under his parent’s nose? They were bound to find out. He wasn’t even supposed to be doing this anymore.

She went back out deciding she’d only get answers if she did so. She found him doing pushups near the ring. She looked at him for a few minutes before breaking his concentration. “Thought you weren’t supposed to box anymore.”

He hopped to his feet, running in place for a few seconds as he eyed her. “I’m not fighting but it still is good exercise. I would like to go back though. Michael isn’t that much of a challenge.”

Molly found it amusing that he kept bringing up Michael with this tone of irritation but there was also this sense of friendliness to it. He didn’t hate Michael, he just got very annoyed with him a lot of the time. She figured it’s because he didn’t understand why Michael was trying to shield him so much when it came to the wrath of his folks. He cared about Sherlock, and he didn’t want him to end up like him. Heart broken, and looking after a younger version of himself.

In a way that was the same reason why she was cautious around Sherlock. Knowing that she wasn’t what he needed in the long run. She couldn’t stay here forever. It would only cause him more problems. She hated thinking about all the frustration she had caused him already.

“Is that why you brought me down here?” She mumbled, coming back to the world and away from her thoughts.

“No, different reason. Follow me.” Sherlock stepped into the ring and Molly hung back for a moment before following him in.

What was he expecting her to do?

She wasn’t sure what but whatever it was he seemed sure of it. She watched him move around her for a second before he came back to stand right in front of her and leaned into her. “Hit me.” He said.

“What?”

“Hit. Me.” He said again, gritting his teeth obviously getting annoyed with her making him repeat himself again.

“Is that even safe? Shouldn’t I be wearing gloves? I could…hurt you.” She breathed and he just laughed.

“Would that make you comfortable?” He moved away from her and jumped over the rope but soon was coming back with a pair of gloves. He handed them to her and she slipped them on.

“What’s the point of this?”

He didn’t say anything at first before motioning for her to come at him. She grimaced, not seeing the point of this but she struck at him. He ducked before taunting her with, “You can do better than that. If you had the strength as a kid to strike at every person who doubted you and you names. What would it feel like?” He had talked to her dad.

Molly drew in a deep breath before going to hit him again. She barely grazed him on his chin. He only smiled shaking his head.

“What’s the point of this?” She asked him again. He still wouldn’t give her a clear answer, only muttering another thing that he knew would drive her to want to hit him. It was about her brother. He knew she didn’t get along with him and in part that they struggled growing up with each other. It pissed her off that he was using that to just get her to hit him. She did it though because he was allowing her to do so. Then she hit him again just wanting to swing at him.

She didn’t like him right now. He was trying to push her.

“That’s it.”

Molly stopped thinking for a full minute when he said that and she went at him full on. “You’re in pain.” He told her as he blocked off a full set of three hits towards his face. “You should be angry.”

“I am.” She told him, stepping away from him a second. She felt warm, and not in the way that liked to be.

“Then let it out.” He urged her. “He will cause havoc inside of you, Molly. Just hit me. I can be your punching bag. I can take it.” He told her.

She was staring at the gloves on her hands unsure if she wanted to do it. She didn’t know if she could. She could possibly be that pissed about everything that she would take it out on him , here and now.

The answer was difficult to come by.

She didn’t want to him but at the same time she was tired of keeping it all to herself. Even though she had thought she was okay today. She hadn’t been okay really ever with anything. It just felt weird having someone to want her to just expel every little thing she felt onto them.

Who would let her do that?

He would. He seemed to understand. He saw what she hid from everyone else, what she had been trying to hide from him and made a decision.

“Hit. Me. Molly.” He said coming over to her and taking one of her hands. She peered up at him and swung with the opposite arm and she kept on going until eventually she had started pounding on his chest instead of his face and screaming at him. Things that he knew weren’t true but he let her get it out.

She didn’t hate him. She was just in pain, and she was trying to hole it inside where she thought it was safe.

It wasn’t.

He had to get her to realize that which was why he did this in the first place. He had drove himself up the wall today when he couldn’t find her after he had went to the hospital – never mind the fact that Michael hadn’t been there to stop him to tell him that a) Mr. Hooper was already gone b) Molly had run off and was nowhere to be found, until she came back and he found her. It was exactly pissed at her but worried and he showed his worry in strange ways. Especially when it came to her.

So here they were and as she looked up at him she did something that took him a little off guard. It wasn’t the tears that had made themselves apparent on the shakiness from all the rage that had been pent up inside her small body, she had just leant him and kissed him.

It was a second and then she had pushed away and muttered apologized furiously. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I did that. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m not being rational right now.” She turned away from him hiding her face.

There was something about the recklessness of her behavior that set him off and then Sherlock was striding over to the other side of the ring where she was standing and he had his hands around her face. Her eyes were puffy and even though she looked like she wanted to run far far away from whatever had just happened – what she had started, he kissed her.

He only muttered a few words when he felt her saying that he should not be kiss her right now. “Don’t care.” Then he resumed kissing her because it’s what he wanted to do and she seemed to give up on whatever part of her rational mind that made it seem like this was a huge mistake. It couldn’t make him change the fact that it was happening and they were relishing on it from both sides.

-x-

 

_But we can try to end this, just give me one kiss_

_Let me show you how, even now, things are perfect_

-      _It’s Love; Kina Grannis_


	11. Part Eleven

Rising to the surface made everything feel real. The underground training space had seemed different somehow. Molly had gone in unknowingly what would happen there and now they had done something that had changed them.

In part she could blame herself for the kiss. She had been the one to start it but it took two of them to continue doing all of it. A part of her almost wanted to say that her grief made her do stupid things like kiss Sherlock Holmes – the one person she felt understood her. It was this understanding that made her feel shaky now.

What did he think of her now? What had he ever thought about her?

She hadn't the foggiest clue but as he held her hand as they exited the lift that had brought them back to the real world, she felt a quake in her.

He looked at her for the briefest of moments before he tugged her down the hallway down another set of doors to a room that she knew she wasn't allowed. His bedroom.

Once the door was shut Molly looked up at him with a wariness that only came with secrets like this.

"It's fine." He muttered as if reading her mind. He gently turned her around and guided her over to the bed where he plopped down, spreading his long body down on it as if he had the worst day imaginable happen to him. Molly didn't know if that was true but in some light it could have been.

He had gone searching for her in the rain thinking that something had happened to her. Nothing as tragic as what he could have been thinking during those hours of wondering on his part, but she hadn't been the same person that he had met. She had been frail and sad and upsetting. She was still all of those things in some part, she felt.

Even so she didn't know how to continue with this. What was she supposed to do here? In his room. In the bubble of emotions in feelings that were just supposed to be there.

A kiss meant something. It did mean something to her. It meant something to him but her thoughts couldn't stay in this happy place because she knew that it couldn't stay that way forever no matter how much she wished it could. If she could surround herself in that moment for months it would make this easier.

None of this felt simple.

Molly just stood there at the edge of the bed looking past Sherlock.

It was too much.

Sherlock frowned, sitting up and reaching for her hand. He wanted to know what all rattled her brain. He knew it wasn't as simple as her father dying. That was tragic. That was grief; something he could deal with. He had experienced loss on some level before. That was manageable. However, this felt much more than that.

"Do you want to take it back?" He voiced, breaking through her wall for a millisecond as her head yanked down to him as he sat with her hand held with such care in his own.

She shook her head. "No…" Her voice was so raw and emotional. He smoothed his hand over hers softly to try to get her to simmer down a little. There was so much bubbling there in the surface of her movements and her eyes. He just wanted to make it alright for just a moment.

"Lay with me." He suggested softly. He made no move to pull her forward onto the bed. He just spoke it aloud to put it out in the open. She could have stayed right there if that was what kept her in the sound place that she was searching for right now.

The nod came before he had to assess the situation any more than that.

He let her make the next move, wanting her to do what she was most comfortable with.

Molly looked at Sherlock as she moved to twist around so that she still had his hand but was sitting on the end of the bed with him. She liked the feel of his hands. They were rough from years of boxing. Cuts and old wounds healed over by her touch and some she knew he _fixed_ himself were under her hand now. There was something else there though, a different sort of edge. It wasn't hurting her but it made her wonder what else he could possibly do with his hands. What else did he make with them?

She wanted to ask him about it.

She didn't think now was the time.

Instead she pressed her face into his shoulder took in a deep breath (inhaling in his scent) and closing her eyes. She just wanted to sit here for a little while.

It was the most ideal way to sit. Sherlock's hand wedged in between the two of them while she had her head against his shoulder. It would do though. It's what she needed.

At some point in the hours that Molly stayed in Sherlock's room they hand slowly dipped down into the bed into a laying down position. He didn't say much but he was there and that was something that she needed. She hadn't known it at first. Directs attention to the rain scene where she was on a bench and he had run up to her and asked her why she was sitting there like that.

In this moment in time she would remember all that he had done for her on this night. From getting her out of the rain to sneaking her down to his lair (secret boxing area) and then to his room while no one was around to see them. It was much more than those things.

She could forget about the kiss a moment. Relishing in the comfort of his warm body that she was pressed up against to as she rested her eyes until a knock came at the door.

Molly's initial instinct was to jump away from Sherlock and perhaps roll under the bed so that whoever was there wouldn't see her there though the indentation of her body once being next to Sherlock's would be blatantly apparent. Sherlock had changed his mind about giving her a choice on the matter when Michael popped his head in the door.

"You found her." He stated as he slipped in and shut the door.

Sherlock merely nodded and tightened his hold on the girl in question who was both confused by the nonchalant attitude that the bodyguard was giving her and Sherlock's insistence that she stay right where she was.

She decided to deal with one of them at a time and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position which in turn altogether erased the Sherlock holding her so tightly part of the equation. She heard him sigh as she addressed Michael.

"Were you searching for me too?"

Michael brushed a hand down his face as he stared at Molly. There wasn't anything wrong with the girl but this situation had begun to get out of hand. He nodded in her direction as he looked at Sherlock, frowning deeply.

"I assume you want breakfast up here, Sherlock?" He asked. He didn't stay long to get a real answer from him, merely exited.

Molly turned to Sherlock who was running his hands through his curls. "What?" He asked noticing that she was staring.

She shrugged. "Do you often get breakfast in your room?" She smiled softly at him.

It was with that small glimmer that he popped up. "No. I don't eat some mornings or…days."

Molly rolled her eyes at that. He wasn't much for taking care of himself unless someone was helping him do it. In a way she thought it was good that both Michael and she herself were there to look after him. She didn't question who would do the same for her. She had done just fine on her own without a Sherlock. She had her dad. _Had_.

It took one line of thought for her to remember that he wasn't there anymore. She wasn't alone truly. She had Martha and the kids, she had Sherlock, and Michael even though she wasn't sure how he felt about her now that he found her this morning in Sherlock's bedroom, she did have her mother. She had people who cared about her but the one person who mattered she couldn't talk to anymore and that hurt more than anything else.

Sherlock saw the way her face dropped and was quick to rush over to his closet and grab a few items of clothes. He threw a shirt at her head nearly mirroring the way he tossed the clothes last night when they were in the ring. She laughed at him.

"Really? You couldn't have given me any warning?"

"Where's the fun in that?" His voice sounded muffled.

Molly could hear the sound of him doing something from the other sound of the room but because of the particular noise that a belt made she decided to stay hidden behind the shirt he had chucked at her. No reason to make this more awkward so early in the morning.

She was already red in the face from the imagery alone.

It reminded her of the day that he had proposition that she come work for him. She couldn't say that she had gotten the job she signed up for but she had gotten something increasingly better. She was working her way to what she wanted to do and it was never dull. She couldn't complain too much. The fact that she hadn't complained was something she imagined was torture for some people that she wouldn't dare name. It was in her nature to go with things and hope that something better would come along.

It hadn't steered her into a bad place as of yet.

She chose to ignore anything that would seem ill willed in any light. Focusing on the light and happy moments brought her more energy and focus.

"I can close my eyes if you want to change without prying eyes." Sherlock once again pulling her back to where he was.

It was starting to make him laugh the way she would zone off like that. It was expected that he was the type to do that when he didn't like someone or care for what they were saying. In this case he was concerned about Molly Hooper and he would do anything to see her smile. That was his job in her life today and many days to come. He had made it so, not that she knew that yet.

She pulled at the article of clothing that was shield him from her sight and she grinned at him, giggling a little.

"Would you?"

"The lady asks, so it shall be." He winked, turning around and covering his eyes with his hand.

Molly trusted him but she still waited a few moments before slipping the tank that she had been wearing over her head in place of the button up that if she had a belt could been seen as a dress on her. A very high quality dress. She kept the shorts on for appearances and her own sanity.

She started to tell him that she was done but once again a knock came at the door. Sherlock went to answer it while Molly combed a hand through her hair unsure what to expect who was visiting now. Was it Michael again? Or someone else?

The sigh of relief that left her lips could be heard audibly as Martha Hudson came in tow with her daughter Lilith. The girl seeming to forget her manners or saying hello to Sherlock as he opened the door rushed towards Molly and circled her arms around her neck hugging her. "I told my idiot brother you were okay. I'm so happy you're okay."

Molly looked shaken a bit by the contact. Lilith never outright touched Molly which confused her now seeing as she had practically ran over to the bed to attack her in a hug. "Y-yes I'm fine. Tell Max not to worry." She patted the girl's hair softly before she took a step back and straightened up as if that hadn't happened at all.

Martha smiled happily at the display. "I bought you a pair of your clothes in case you wanted to change. Didn't know what you two were up to up here but Michael was very discreet about saying such a thing. Smart man." She chuckled before she moved over to the desk that Molly hadn't even looked at properly since coming into the room the night before and sitting the tray of things down on it.

"I hope you enjoy the food, dears." With that Martha and Lilith exited the room.

"This is the most visitors I've gotten up here in years."

He kept saying things that made Molly want to inquire about his life before this. She decided that maybe she could learn a little bit this morning as they ate breakfast. It wasn't a bad topic of conversation. It was the perfect start to stabilize whatever this was supposed to be now. Molly and Sherlock, once a medic and boxer…now what were they? Where were they going?

"Shall we eat then?" She mumbled as she slipped from off the bed so that she could stretch.

He nodded, liking that idea. He lifted the tray up. "We shall."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lay Me Down by Sam Smith started playing during a certain part that I was writing in this chapter and I tried not to laugh because irony. It was a good laugh for sure.
> 
> The lyrics in particular that made me smile were: 
> 
> Can I lay by your side, next to you, you  
> and make sure you're alright  
> I'll take care of you  
> and I don't want to be here if I can't be with you tonight
> 
> Fitting, right?
> 
> So sorry this took over a year to be written. 
> 
> Writer’s block is a messy business. I’m happy to have written this for you guys though. 
> 
> As a bonus treat I’ve recorded me reading the kiss that was featured in the last chapter on [my tumblr](http://sincerelydayyy.tumblr.com/post/126506825825/the-kiss-from-ch10-of-the-knockout-for). I hope you like that too! 
> 
> Please let me know how this chapter went. I know it’s probably a bit rough. It’s been so long.
> 
> <3 day


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